PM inaugurates metro's Red Line extension to Ghaziabad; takes train ride from Shaheed Sthal station

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the 9.63-km-long Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section, an extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line.

With this new section entirely elevated, the Delhi Metro forayed into the interiors of Ghaziabad for the first time, touching the industrial areas in twin cities of Ghaziabad and Sahibabad.

After flagging off the section, Modi also took a ride in a metro train from Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) in Ghaziabad and on the way also interacted with commuters onboard.

He took the ride till Kashmere Gate, a major interchange facility on the DMRC network, from where he deboarded, DMRC officials said.

"Passenger services on the Red Line extension from Dilshad Garden to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) in Ghaziabad will start from 8 am on Saturday," DMRC's Executive Director for Corporate Communications Anuj 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)," a senior DMRC official said.

The other six stations on the stretch are -- Shahid Nagar, Raj Bagh, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala and Hindon River.

This section 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 now spans 34.72 km.

"Trains will be available at peak hour frequency of six minutes and 12 seconds on the Dilshad Garden New Bus Adda section. 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.

"All the station buildings have at least two Ticket Office Machine counters with one counter located at a lower height for facility of differently-abled commuters," the DMRC said.

This would be the second metro corridor in Ghaziabad after the Blue Line, which links Delhi to the neighbouring city with stations at Kaushambi and Vaishali.

The extension of the Delhi Metro's Red Line will connect residents of Ghaziabad with various parts of the National Capital Region.

"Currently, commuters have to rely on other modes of transport from Dilshad Garden to reach Sahibabad and further to Ghaziabad. Now with extension of metro, connectivity to Mohan Nagar from Dilshad Garden could also improve considerably," he told reporters during a preview of the new corridor.

After the opening of this section, the total network of the Delhi Metro now spans 336.6 km with 244 metro stations. The DMRC's span in Uttar Pradesh is now 52.85 km.

The non-stop traffic on the G T Road was a major challenge, while constructing this section.

The DMRC carried out most of the construction activities and launching operations "during the night for 4-5 hours", Dayal said.

Out of the eight stations on this section, six stations - Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, and New Bus Adda - have buildings on both sides of the main highway and platforms on the central verge along the viaduct i.e. those platforms are not a part of the station buildings but separate.

"In other stations on our network, the station buildings and platforms are built together. In those six stations of the new corridor, the concourse level and station platforms are interconnected through foot over bridges (FOBs)," a senior official said.

The Shaheed Nagar Station has only one station building on one side, while the other side is connected through lifts and a staircase for commuters to reach from road-level to station building.

At all stations (except Hindon River) an FOB at concourse level consists of paid and unpaid sections for the use of metro commuters and the general public respectively.

At Hindon River station, the FOB is common for both metro commuters and general public.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union minister V K Singh, BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey and DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh were also present during the inauguration function of the new metro section.

Prior to inaugurating the section, Modi also inaugurated the new civil enclave at the Hindon airport from where commercial flights would be operated to various places, including Shimla and Kannur. He later addressed a public meeting in Ghaziabad and also inaugurated a slew of development projects.

He inaugurated and laid foundation stone for a slew of projects worth Rs 32,500 crore in Ghaziabad, including foundation stone-laying of the ambitious Regional Rail Transport System (RRTS).

"The RRTS is being built for more than Rs 30,000 crore. Once work is completed on the country's first RRTS, the distance between Delhi and Meerut could be covered in just one hour," the prime minister told the gathering.