11,625 passengers on day 1 for Aqua Line, real test on Monday

The Noida-Greater Noida Metro, which opened for public on Saturday, witnessed a total ridership of 11,625 passengers on day one, with officials expecting a major surge Monday onwards.

The metro rail service, also known as the Aqua Line, was inaugurated Friday by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath but it was opened for citizens only on Republic Day, with curtailed timings from 10 am to 5 pm, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) said.

"Total ridership on the metro line stood at 11,625, with the highest number of passengers boarding from Pari Chowk and Depot Stations (also the terminus station at one end) in Greater Noida," NMRC Executive Director P D Upadhyay said.

"Overall 266 smart cards and 11,440 QR-coded paper tickets were purchased by the passengers on day one," he said.

The sales of cards and tickets fetched the NMRC Rs 3.60 lakh, Upadhyay said, adding that if top up values in smart cards is included then the amount goes up to Rs 4.43 lakh.

The metro card, built in line with the central government's initiative of national common mobility card, which could be used for NMRC-run city buses, parkings and online shopping, is being sold for Rs 100, he said.

"Total 64 trips were made by the metros between the two terminus stations of Depot (in Greater Noida) and Sector 51 (in Noida), covering a distance of 1,906 km," he said.

According to the NMRC, the highest ridership was witnessed at Pari Chowk, Alpha, Depot, and Delta stations in Greater Noida, and Sectors 51, 137, 76, 101 and 50 stations.

The lowest ridership was recorded at Noida's Sector 147, 146 and 144 metro stations, it said.

"The metro services maintained a 100 per cent punctuality during its run today," Upadhyay said.

Built for Rs 5,503 crore, the rail service runs through 21 stations -- 15 of them in Noida and six in Greater Noida -- as it connects the twin-cities covering a distance of 29.7 km.

The metro would run on Sunday from 8 am to 10 pm, while its full fledged service from 6 am to 10 pm would begin Monday onwards, according to NMRC.

Upadhyay, who went on a ride on Saturday, said the public's response has been "good" considering it was a holiday and the ridership is expected to go up in coming week.

"The service was open for seven hours only today. Monday onwards, as we begin full-fledged service from 6 am to 10 pm and offices, schools and colleges reopen, we are expecting more commuters to get on board," he told PTI.