₹6.8k-cr budget for Metro lines to link Greater Noida, Jewar airport

CONNECTIVITY One will be a direct line to airport, the other will have 25 stations spread across city

GREATER NOIDA: The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) on Thursday approved a budget of ₹6,869 crore for two Metro links to the proposed greenfield airport in Jewar. Officials said both the Metro lines will start at Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park-II and terminate at Jewar Airport.

They said while one would be an exclusive Airport Express Line, with no stations between Knowledge Park-II and the airport, the other would go through residential, commercial and rural areas along the Yamuna Expressway.

The Uttar Pradesh government has started the process to hire a developer for the airport at Jewar in Greater Noida, which is expected to become the national Capital Region’s second airport and take the load off Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, once completed. The airport is expected to be operational by 2022-23.

Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) has invited global players to bid for the development of the airport project.

The NIAL has also handed over the responsibility of preparing a detailed project report for the airport with six runways to the audit and consulting firm Pricewater houseCoopers.

This project will branch out from the existing Knowledge Park-II station on the Aqua Line, and terminate at Jewar airport. Earlier, this link was planned between Greater Noida’s Pari Chowk and Jewar airport.

The budget for the Metro links was approved in the 65th board meeting of Yeida on Thursday.

As per the detailed project report submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the project is expected to witness a daily ridership of 82,000, which is not economically viable as per the traffic projections. As per the DPR, it requires a daily ridership of over 1.6 lakh for the project to become viable.

Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer of Yeida, however said that they cannot hold on for the correct traffic projections. “We need to build a Metro Link from Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park-II to Jewar airport site by 2023, when the airport is expected to become operational. We are not bothered about economic feasibility because we need to a build Metro link to provide connectivity to more than 21,000 residential plot allottees, who are likely to shift to sectors 18 and 20,” Singh said.

“We have to ensure Metro connectivity for passengers travelling to Jewar airport from Greater Noida via an Airport Express Line,” he said.

Officials said the Yeida will prepare a proposal on funding pattern of the two Metro links in collaboration with the Noida Metro Rail Corporation. The proposal would be sent to the UP government for a final decision.

On the normal Metro line, of the 35.64 km stretch, 33.27km will be elevated and the remaining 3.37km stretch till Jewar airport will run underground along Jewar-Sikandrabad road. The link will have 25 Metro stations, excluding the airport station.

The proposed stations on the Metro line are: Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park-II, Chi-I, Chi-II, Chi-III, Chi-IV, Gautam Budh University, Night Safari, Murshadpur, Yamuna Authority’s Sector 26A, Noida International University, Galgotias University, Sector 17A, Sports City, sectors 22A, 22B, sector 18A, sector 22C, sectors 19, 18, 2, 20, 21, 28, 29, Nagla Hukum Singh and Jewar airport.