DMRC to sign pact for new Metro line

DMRC to sign pact for new Metro line

Noida: For the expansion of the Metro line in Noida, the Authority will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) this week, said Rama Raman, chairman of Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway authorities on Sunday. The chairman said date and venue of the event will be decided on Monday.

The issues has already been discussed with UP chief secretary Alok Ranjan on Saturday in New Delhi. “The state government has already given green signal to sign the MoU,” said Raman. The Mou will be signed in the presence of DMRC chief Mangu Singh, said a senior official of Authority.

Three years after the 3.9-km Botanical Garden (Noida)-Kalindi Kunj (Delhi) Metro corridor was proposed and approved by the Noida Authority, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav cleared the proposal in a cabinet meeting in Lucknow in June this year. After opening of the line, the commuters will not have to go to Rajiv Chowk Metro station to take Line 2 (Huda City Centre to Jahangirpuri) as the corridor will form a ringed route and connect Botanical Garden station with Hauz Khas station via Amity University, Kalindi Kunj and Kalkaji station. The Noida Authority on behalf of the UP government will sign the MoU. The CM has already given Rama Raman a go ahead to sign the MoU for the Metro phase III plan.

The Rs 845-crore corridor is expected to be completed by March 2016 with the cost of the Metro line over the Yamuna bridge to be shared on an 80-20 basis between the UP government and the Centre.

The DMRC had already invited bids for the project. “We have already paid DMRC around Rs 41 crore. Officials will now carry out a detailed survey for the project. We have also earmarked 55,000 sqm land to DMRC for a casting yard in Sector 71,” said a senior Noida Authority official.

The route will have three stations, Botanical Garden and Okhla Bird Sanctuary in Noida, and Kalindi Kunj in Delhi. The trains on the route will have six and eight coaches with a capacity to carry 1,756 and 2,352 passengers.

Two proposed Metro route links between Noida and Greater Noida and a route extension within Noida (6.6-km route between City Centre and Sector 62) are also underway, said Raman.