Delhi Metro’s Blue Line link to Noida Electronic City gets safety clearance

DMRC said that the extension will be major boon for commuters residing in sectors 34, 52 and 22. It will also cater to commercial areas in Noida sectors 59, 61, 62 and the Electronic City. The commuters of Ghaziabad will also benefit from the enhanced connectivity as the last stop of Electronic City station is at the Noida-Ghaziabad border.

With the commissioner of Metro rail safety giving his safety clearance for the 6.67km Blue Line extension from Noida City Centre and Noida Electronic City, the line is likely to be opened to the public soon.

The 6.67-km extension to the Metro’s Blue Line till Noida Electronic City on Wednesday received clearance for passenger services.(Mohd Zakir/HT File Photo)

The link is an extension of the already operational Dwarka Sector 21 – Noida City Centre, which is around 49km long.

Services on the Dilshad Garden to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) section will tentatively commence from 8am on March 9, officials of the DMRC said. The 9.6km Metro route in Ghaziabad will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

The extension has eight stations on an elevated corridor and will connect Ghaziabad to Delhi on the DMRC’s Red Line network which goes all the way up to Rithala in Delhi.

“SK Pathak, the commissioner of Metro rail safety has given his safety clearance to this extension after an inspection on March 4. Our section is ready for operations and we will start operations on this link soon,” Anuj Dayal, executive director corporate communication, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), said.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had in August 2015 started the work on this project at a budget of ?1,816 crore. The project was supposed to be ready in about 36 months from the date of commencement of work.

Officials said this Metro link will benefit many Noida areas such as sectors 35, 51, 34, 52, 71, 60, 59, 60, 61, 62 and 63 and would also connect Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

This entirely elevated section consists of six stations — Sector 34, Sector 52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and Noida Electronic City.

The Electronic City in Sector 62, near NH-24, is the last station, which is near Indirapuram. This link will branch out from City Centre Metro station and also touch the 29.707km Noida-Greater Noida Metro Link at Sector 71/51.

Earlier, the DMRC was supposed to open this link to the public by November 2018 and later, the deadline was rescheduled to December-end 2018. But it took the DMRC time to ready the project for operations.

The DMRC has painted the Metro stations and other public space available around the stations with art work.

The DMRC staff is giving finishing touches to all Metro stations and the elevated section that pass through the central verge of Noida’s Master Plan-3 road and road number six that connects Noida’s Sector 71 area with NH-24.