Noida: Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Noida Metro’s third extension, an 8.4km corridor connecting Sector 51 with Sector 4 in Greater Noida West. The elevated line, whose approval was long awaited because of commuting problems that thousands of its residents face, will have five stations and an interchange with DMRC’s Blue Line at Sector 61 station.The new stations will be sectors 61, 70, 122, 123 and Greater Noida West Sector 4. Work on the line is expected to begin only in 2027 and be completed in 2031.In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said, “As Noida and Greater Noida grow, why should daily commutes become longer? Here is some good news for the people of Noida and Greater Noida! The Cabinet has approved an extension of the Aqua Line Metro. Key advantages are easier access to offices, schools, hospitals and commercial hubs, less congestion, shorter commutes. A major boost to connectivity and Ease of Living indeed.”Proposed 11 years ago, the project will link Noida and Greater Noida West directly to Delhi Metro. It is expected to cut travel time and ease congestion at Parthala Chowk, Gaur Chowk and Ek Murti Chowk, where rapid residential and commercial development has outpaced public transport infrastructure.Union I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the new corridor was designed to support a significant increase in the population of Noida and Greater Noida, which has tripled over the last decade to nearly 2.5 million, and provide better access to IT industries, corporate offices and media hubs that have come up in these sectors.This is the third Aqua Line extension to get approval. On Feb 14, Aqua Line’s expressway link from Sector 142 to Botanical Garden with eight elevated stations got the green signal. In July last year, the Centre approved the Depot Station–Boraki Metro extension.With the Cabinet nod, Noida Metro will float a tender to hire a developer in the next three months.The corridor is expected to serve a dense belt of MNCs (IKEA, Adobe, HCL, Havells), upcoming data centres, residential sectors, such as Cleo County in Sector 121 and Gaur City 1 and 2 and Kailash Hospital in Sector 73, and educational hubs, including Delhi Public School in Sector 122, with reliable connectivity for the NCR workforce.It will also provide connectivity from Greater Noida West to IGI Airport via the Magenta Line interchange at Botanical Garden and to New Delhi, Anand Vihar and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations via the Blue Line. The new corridor will also connect directly to the upcoming multi-modal transportation hub at Boraki, and via the RRTS corridor to Noida International Airport in Jewar and Hindon Airport in Ghaziabad.The demand for metro in Greater Noida West started in 2010 when the area emerged as a residential hub. In 2015, NMRC decided to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the corridor. An initial alignment for the corridor proposed an 18km track linking Delhi Metro’s Sector 61 station on the Blue Line to Knowledge Park V in Greater Noida via sectors 70, 122, 123, Greater Noida Sector 4, Ecotech 12, Greater Noida sectors 2, 3, 10 and 12.The DPR was approved by the Noida and Greater Noida authorities’ joint board in Sept that year and forwarded to the state govt for approval. UP Cabinet approved the project on Dec 3, 2019 and forwarded it to the Centre for approval. However, on Nov 22, 2023, the Centre rejected the original alignment because of a proposed 72-km Ghaziabad-Jewar rapid rail corridor via Greater Noida West.The rapid rail corridor with 22 stations is proposed to originate at the Ghaziabad RRTS station on the Delhi-Meerut corridor and pass through Siddharth Vihar, Char Murti Chowk in Greater Noida West, Knowledge Park V, Police Lines, Surajpur and Alpha-1, before terminating at Noida International Airport. A detailed project report (DPR), prepared by NCRTC, said the corridor would be ready in five years.Last year, MoHUA had flagged the duplication of stations with NMRC’s proposed Aqua Line extension while reviewing the rapid rail corridor and directed YEIDA to reconsider the alignment. It also flagged the lack of seamless interchange connectivity between Aqua Line’s Sector 51 station and Delhi Metro Blue Line’s Sector 52 station.In Jan, YEIDA clarified that there would be no changes to the 72km corridor. Subsequently, in Feb 2024, NMRC approved a modified DPR comprising five stations. The revised proposal received clearance from Public Investment Board (PIB) on July 22 this year, paving the way for Cabinet approval.NMRC general manager (projects) Pradeep Yadav said an interchange with the Blue Line corridor at Sector 52 station was not possible because the Sector 51 and Sector 52 stations are only 400 metres apart. “The Sector 51-52 stations are already connected through a skywalk, so there was no point in making another station at this location. Sector 61 was selected as an ideal interchange option as it fell on the alignment of the route,” he said.Under the new alignment, the proposed Sector 61 station will be 60 metres from the Blue Line interchange.Residents have welcomed the Cabinet’s approval but said timely execution would be crucial. Punit Kohli, a resident of Saya Zion in Greater Noida West, said the metro project had been a longstanding demand. “The demand for a metro connection to Greater Noida West dates back to 2010, when highrise residential societies started coming up in the area. The project has faced repeated delays and often gained attention before elections, only to lose momentum afterwards. With the Union cabinet now clearing it, we hope the work will be completed within the promised timeline,” he said.
