The 6.6-km Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Blue Line in the satellite city was on Saturday thrown open to the public, hours after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Services began at 4 pm today. The frequency of trains on this new section during peak hours would be 5 minutes and 26 seconds," a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official said.
Services also began on Saturday morning on the 9.63-km-long Dilshad Garden-Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line to Ghaziabad, a day after Modi flagged off the section, making the DMRC foray into the interiors of Ghaziabad for the first time.
This entirely-elevated section with eight stations, is an extension of the 25.09-km Rithala-Dilshad Garden corridor or Red Line, which has 21 stations. After opening of this section, the entire Red Line will become 34.72 km with 29 stations.
"On the Red Line extension, services began at 8 am. Trains will be available at a peak hour frequency of six minutes and twelve seconds. A total of 35 six-coach trains will be used on the entire Rithala-New Bus Adda Red corridor. The total journey from Dilshad Garden to New Bus Adda will take about 16 minutes," Dayal said.
Two of the eight stations on the Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section have been renamed in the honour of the country's fallen heroes.
The Rajendra Nagar Metro station has been rechristened as Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar station and the end station New Bus Adda has been renamed to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda).
The other six stations are Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala and Hindon River.
Modi flagged off the Blue Line extension section via a remote during an event held in Greater Noida on Saturday.
The completely-elevated section with six stations -- Sector 34, Sector 52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and Noida Electronic City -- will benefit the people of Noida and connect the satellite city with the national capital.
The total length of Blue Line, after opening of this section is now 56.6 km, from nearly 50 km span earlier that connected Dwarka Sector-21 in Delhi to Noida City Centre.
On Friday, after flagging off the Red Line section, Modi had also taken a ride in a metro train from Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) metro station in Ghaziabad to Kashmere Gate station in Delhi and on the way also interacted with commuters onboard.
In a statement issued Friday, the Prime Minister's Office said, "The new section will provide a convenient and faster mode of transport for the residents of Noida. It will also decongest the roads and provide an environment-friendly mode of transport."
After opening of the Red Line section, the total network of the Delhi Metro had increased to 336.6 km with 244 metro stations.
After opening of the Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section, the total span of the DMRC is now over 343 km with 250 metro stations. The DMRC's span in Uttar Pradesh has now increased to over 59.5 km.
The Noida extension line will benefit the people of Noida and bring the Blue Line close to the recently-opened Aqua Line -- run by Noida Metro, which connects Noida and Greater Noida.
However, both lines have different travel cards at the moment, unlike the Rapid Metro in Gurgaon, wherein DMRC metro cards are valid for travel.
The Sector-52 station of the DMRC's Blue Line is very close to the Sector-51 station on the Aqua Line, operated by the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) and its commuters are awaiting last-mile connectivity between the two lines.
Plans are afoot to connect the two lines through a dedicated pathway and a carriage-way for e-rickshaws, officials said earlier.
There is a distance of around 300 m between the Sector-51 metro station, the terminus of the Aqua Line in Noida and the upcoming Sector-52 metro station of the Blue Line.
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