Modi opens metro's Red Line stretch to Ghaziabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off the 9.63 kilometre section connecting Dilshad Garden with New Bus Adda in Ghaziabad, which is an extension of Delhi Metro's Red Line.

The Prime Minister is slated to inaugurate another 6.67 kilometre stretch of Delhi Metro's Blue Line between Noida City Centre and Electronic City on Saturday morning.

Modi on Friday travelled across the newly-built section of the Red Line after inaugurating it, taking the ride from the newly-opened New Bus Adda to Kashmere Gate.

The newly-inaugurated section has eight stations -- Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, Hindon River and Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda). Passenger operations on the extended stretch will start from 8 a.m. onwards on Saturday.

In the last 10 days, Modi has travelled in the metro thrice besides inaugurating three metro sections in three states.

The Prime Minister had opened a section of the Ahmedabad Metro on Monday and took a ride on it. On Thursday, he inaugurated the Nagpur Metro via remote control.

The first of these trips was taken by Modi on February 26, when he travelled in the Delhi Metro's Violet Line from Khan Market to Kailash Colony while going to the ISCKON Temple in East of Kailash.

The Prime Minister's inauguration spree comes just days before the Model Code of Conduct will be imposed.

It seems the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) too has effected changes in its schedule for the inauguration of the two new sections so that the Prime Minister could formally announce them open by being present in person.

The conjecture is not frivolous if one follows the back-to-back statements issued by the DMRC on Wednesday. The first release said the Noida and the Dilshad Garden sections will be opened on March 8 and 9, respectively.

Within hours, another release was issued which mentioned March 9 as the date for opening the Dilshad Garden section, without mentioning any details about the flagging off of the Noida section.

However, as it happened, the final dates for opening the two sections got inter-changed.

-- IANS

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