Noida gets metro coaches but test run faces delay

NMRC has written to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) to provide power for the dry run by December-end.

Four Metro coaches have been delivered to the Greater Noida depot station of Noida Metro Rail Corporation’s (NMRC) Noida-Greater Noida Metro link. NMRC had wanted to conduct the dry run of the link by December-end but due to lack of proper power supply, it will be now delayed to mid-January.

The four coaches reached Greater Noida on Thursday morning from Nanjing, China. Each coach costs around Rs11 crore. The coaches were brought from the Mundra port of Gujarat by road, officials said. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

NMRC has written to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) to provide power for the dry run by December-end. Initially, NMRC had considered using the alternate power supply from the depot, provided by RC Green, but later decided that it was not sufficient.

The four coaches reached Greater Noida on Thursday morning from Nanjing, China. Each coach costs around Rs11 crore. The coaches were brought from the Mundra port of Gujarat by road, officials said.

NMRC’s general manager (finance), PD Upadhyay, said these four compartments will accommodate 1,034 persons. In each coach, there will 16 seats reserved for women and senior citizens. The interior of the coaches are of aqua colour and the seats reserved for women and senior citizens will be in dark blue, he said.

“We are expecting the UPPCL to provide us power as soon as possible. We are constructing two receiving sub stations (RSS), which will be located in sectors 148 and 83 of Noida. We want to expedite the work,” Upadhyay said.

NMRC expects to make the 29.7km Metro corridor from Noida to Greater Noida operational by April 2018.

Officials said that construction of the 21 metro stations on the corridor is in an advanced stage and work is being undertaken round the clock.

All Metro stations on the line will have hi-tech escalators, stairs, lifts and separate entry/exit for the differently abled. NMRC will be conducting the first trial run of the Metro train on six kilometres, starting from Metro depot to Knowledge Park in Greater Noida.

The Metro stations are coming up in sectors 52, 51, 50, 78, 81, Dadri Road, sectors 83, 137, 142, 143, 144, 147, 153, 149, Knowledge Park 2, Knowledge Park 1, Pari Chowk, Alpha 1, Alpha 2, Delta 1 and Depot station. The service is expected to benefit nearly 15 lakh people. Around 20km of the line is located in Noida and the rest in Greater Noida.