With Blue Line extension, Delhi metro expands reach till NH-24

The Electronic City station in Sector 62, near NH-24, is close to Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. Passengers travelling on Noida Metro’s Aqua Line can change from Sector 51 station to the Blue Line’s Sector 52 station, which is 300m away.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Delhi Metro Blue line’s 6.6 km Noida City Centre to Electronic City Metro link on Saturday and laid foundation stones for two thermal power plants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Delhi Metro Blue line’s 6.6km Noida City Centre to Electronic City Metro link on Saturday and laid foundation stones for two thermal power plants. (Sunil Ghosh /HT Photo)

The frequency on the 6.675 km link, operations on which began on Saturday at 4pm, will be 5.26 minutes in the peak hours, and the running time between the City Centre and Electronic City stations is 12.23 minutes, officials said.

The DMRC has fixed the regular fare between the two stations at ₹30, while the concessional fare for Sunday and national holidays will be ₹20. The elevated section has six stations — Sector 34, Sector 52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and Noida Electronic City.

The Electronic City station in Sector 62, near NH-24, is close to Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. Passengers travelling on Noida Metro’s Aqua Line can change from Sector 51 station to the Blue Line’s Sector 52 station, which is 300m away.

Speaking about the proposed international airport at Jewar, Modi said, “When Jewar begins enjoying air connectivity, people in this region will not have to travel to Delhi to take flights. The airport will bring a golden development opportunity in western Uttar Pradesh.”

Modi was supposed to lay the foundation stone of the new airport as well on Saturday, because all formalities and approvals had been completed for the project. However, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration could not acquire land meant for the airport project on time, due to pending legal cases in the Allahabad High Court.

The two thermal power plants, one in Khurja, Bulandshahr district and the other in Buxar, Bihar, will have generating capacities of 1,320MW each.

“Previous governments kept neglecting power requirements, but my government has expedited all projects and worked with a vision to make people’s lives easier,” said Modi, who unveiled Bharatiya Jan Sangh leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s statue in the Greater Noida archaeology institute before inaugurating the projects. The Centre has allocated ₹11,089 crore for each of the power plants.

The Institute of Archaeology, built on a budget ₹290 crore, is an academic wing of the Archaeological Survey of India, under the ministry of culture.