New Delhi: The country’s first ‘development Metro’ is finally on track. Even as the fate of the Ghaziabad Metro link hangs in balance, work on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) link proposed from Noida Sector 32 to Greater Noida is expected to start soon. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has finalized the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project and will soon call for tenders after the required approvals are in.
    As per the DPR, the project has a 2014 deadline. The Metro will be a further extension of the under-construction Noida line which connects the existing Line 3 till Noida sector 32. This line will be operational by August end.
    The 29-km long Greater Noida link will connect Noida sector 32 with Pari Chowk in Greater Noida. ‘‘The managing director went to inspect the alignment of the Greater Noida link in June and the final DPR will be submitted to the Noida and Greater Noida authorities by this week. Soon after, tenders will be called and construction of the stretch will begin,’’ said a DMRC spokesperson.
    In normal procedure, the process for calling tenders takes about 6 months to a year and construction will take another two years. The proposed Metro line is going to run along the Greater Noida expressway and will have stops at sector-50, sector-78, sector-101, sector-82, and sector-92.
    This will be the first developmental Metro, a concept popular in developed countries, where a Metro system is developed first on a plot of land which the government plans to develop and later people come and settle around it. The advantage of this is that even before residents shift it, they have a reliable means of commuting available. In Greater Noida too, the present estimates for ridership are not too high.
    “But with the Metro coming up, it is expected that more people will shift in and the ridership will soar,’’ the spokesperson added.
    As part of Phase 2, the Delhi Metro network is traversing a distance of seven kilometres into Noida, till the city centre in sector 32. This project is primarily being funded by the Noida administration (80%). The union government will pay another 20%, while the rolling stock will be provided by DMRC.

Megha Suri | TNN, Source: TOI, New Delhi, Page 2, 20 July 2009