Noida Metro starts fast trains on Aqua Line

Noida: Aimed at reducing travel time by nine minutes during peak hours, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) on Monday started the ‘fast train’ service on its Aqua Line that connects Noida and Greater Noida

Noida: Aimed at reducing travel time by nine minutes during peak hours, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) on Monday started the ‘fast train’ service on its Aqua Line that connects Noida and Greater Noida.

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The average run time of a train on the Aqua Line from Sector 51 Metro station in Noida to Depot station in Greater Noida is 45 minutes 43 seconds (one way). For the fast trains, this was reduced to 36 minutes 40 seconds, NMRC officials said, adding that the ridership on the route increased on Monday.

“The ridership went up by around 870 to 13,446 today compared to last Monday from morning till 8pm,” said Sandhya Sharma, deputy general manager, NMRC. On February 1, the Aqua Line had recorded a ridership of 12,578 from morning till 8pm, she said.

The fast train service has been made available from terminal stations -- Sector 51 station in Noida and Depot station in Greater Noida -- from 8am to 11am, and 5pm to 8pm on weekdays to cover peak hour rush. Out of the 21 stations on the Aqua Line, 10 stations, which have previously shown low ridership, have been skipped under the new system. The stations that were skipped are: Sector 50, Sector 101, Sector 81, Sector 83, Sector 143, Sector 144, Sector 145, Sector 146, Sector 147 and Sector 148.

Commuters have appreciated the new initiative. “There are a few stations where no one ever gets in. There is no point in stopping at such stations. The new system will save our time,” said Manish Chauhan, a student travelling on the Aqua Line.

Signages and regular announcements with respect to the initiative are being made at all the Metro stations of the Aqua Line, the officials said.

Aishwarya, a daily commuter and a student of an institute in Greater Noida, said, “I travelled around 4pm and the regular trains were running at the time. However, there was no announcement about the fast trains.”

NMRC also said that the frequency of trains from Monday to Friday will remain the same i.e., 7.5 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes during non-peak hours. On weekends, Aqua Line trains will continue to run at a frequency of 15 minutes with no skipping of stations.

On Monday, the run time between Sector 51 Metro station and Pari Chowk Metro station was reduced to 28 minutes 30 seconds during the peak hours as against 37 minutes, the officials said.

NMRC had earlier said that QR code-based tickets would not be sold for the left out stations during the ‘fast trains’ running hours.