New Delhi: The much-awaited Metro rail linking the twin cities of Noida and Greater Noida in Gautam Budh Nagar was opened for the public on Friday by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
The rail corridor, also known as the Aqua Line, would run between Sector 71 station in Noida and the Depot Station in Greater Noida. There are a total of 21 stations on the corridor — 15 in Noida and six in Greater Noida — spread over a distance of 29.7 km.
The final and mandatory safety inspection of the corridor was done in December 2018 by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS), which gave its approval to the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) for launching commercial operations.
The DMRC, which operates the Delhi Metro, will assist the NMRC over the next one year in operating the Aqua Line.
However, a major concern among the people has been that the interchange stations of the DMRC-operated Blue Line and the NMRC’s Aqua Line are not seamless.
Earlier, the NMRC had said a skywalk or a foot over bridge to directly link the two stations was under consideration, but there have been talks about it lately.
In December 2018, the NMRC had announced fares for the Aqua Line, with the minimum being '9 and maximum '50. Commuters can buy QR-coded paper tickets or use smart cards to get 10 per cent discount on fares, the officials said.
The 49th battalion of the UP PAC has been entrusted with the responsibility of security on the Aqua Line, while some private security personnel will also be deployed.
The Aqua Line, whose construction started in May 2015 and was completed in record time, was initially expected to be opened for the public in November 2018.
