Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad Development Authority has asked Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to prepare a detailed project report for a new 16-kilometre metro line connecting Vaishali, the terminal station on the Blue line, to Gokulpuri in northeast Delhi via Hindon Civil Terminal, which currently acts as Delhi-NCR’s second airport.The proposed corridor is likely to have seven stations and pass through Sahibabad, Mohan Nagar, Pasunda, Hindon Civil Terminal and Gagan Vihar.“In July last year, DMRC proposed 18 metro extension projects in Delhi-NCR under phase 5 of the metro extension plan, three of which were in Ghaziabad. In keeping with this, we have asked DMRC to prepare DPR for the Vaishali-Gokulpuri corridor. We expect submission in a couple of months,” a GDA official said.According to DMRC’s initial Phase-V plan, a 12-13 kilometre corridor was proposed to connect Gokulpuri on the Pink Line to Arthala on the Red Line via Hindon Civil Terminal. Officials told TOI that GDA wanted the corridor extended further to improve connectivity for over five lakh residents of Indirapuram, Vasundhara and Vaishali.The terminal currently sits roughly five kilometres from the nearest metro stations, Dilshad Garden and Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar, both on the Red Line. The Sahibabad RRTS station offers a high-speed alternative. But passengers are largely dependent on cabs and auto-rickshaws for last-mile access.The two other metro corridors that are proposed to come up in the city include a three-kilometre extension from Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda on the Red Line to Ghaziabad railway station, and the long-pending five-kilometre Noida Electronic City-Sahibabad link, which would serve Indirapuram, Shakti Khand and Vasundhara’s Sector 5, with five stations in all.Together, the three corridors would add roughly 25 kilometres to the metro network, at an estimated cost of Rs 7,500 crore, based on a per-kilometre construction cost of Rs 300 crore.The Noida Electronic City-Sahibabad corridor has been stalled since 2018 despite a DPR of Rs 1,873 crore having been prepared, largely due to a funding shortfall. GDA had earlier sought Rs 2,441 crore under the 16th Finance Commission for metro projects in the city.Officials said the ministry of housing and urban affairs’ directive to prepare DPRs had revived prospects for central and state funding. “Funding was an issue, but now that the ministry has directed the DPR exercise, the projects could take off through central and state govt grants,” an official said.
