Jewar Airport: Spreading wings! New Greater Noida metro line approved by Yamuna Expressway Authority

Providing major relief to the commuters, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) announced on Thursday that a new metro rail line will run between Greater Noida and the upcoming Jewar airport. The project is expected to be completed by 2023. The announcement was made after the 65th Board Meeting of the YEIDA, which manages the development of region along the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway, by its Chief Executive Officer Arun Vir Singh. "The proposal for the metro rail was presented during the board meeting and it has been approved. It would now be sent to the state government," he said.

"The new metro rail line will have dedicated tracks, one for taking passengers directly to the Jewar airport and the other for commutation within the sectors here. The project will cost Rs 7,000 crore and YEIDA has allocated Rs 500 crore for it from its annual budget during the board meeting," Singh said.

The deadline to complete the project has been set as 2023 as it does not have economic feasibility at present due to fewer commuters to Jewar. However, the body believes that it is essential keeping in view the projected growth of the region where an international airport is coming up. "We have set a timeline to complete the metro project by 2023 and launch both the projects, that is the first phase of the airport and the metro rail, on the same day," he said.

The metro rail corridor will begin from the Knowledge Park II metro station and go up to the international airport in Jewar, covering a distance of 32 km. He said the funding pattern for the budget allotted to the metro rail project will be decided by the Uttar Pradesh government.

During the meeting, an amount of Rs 83.94 crore was also sanctioned for a road that will connect the Eastern Peripheral Highway with the Yamuna Expressway and cut travel time by one hour for passengers commuting from Greater Noida to Palwal, Faridabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Sonipat, and Panipat. "The development of this interchange will cut the journey time by one hour for people travelling to and from Greater Noida to Palwal Faridabad Ghaziabad Baghpat Sonipat Panipat. This project is expected to be completed in 18 months but we are hoping that it would be ready within one year," Singh said.