‘Fast train’ services begin on Aqua Line
Aimed at reducing travel time by up to nine minutes during peak hours, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) on Monday started the ‘fast train’ service on its Aqua Line that connects Noida and Greater Noida.
The average run time of a train on the Aqua Line from Sector 51 Metro station in Noida to Depot station in Greater Noida is 45 minutes 43 seconds (one way). For the fast trains, this was reduced to 36 minutes 40 seconds, NMRC officials said, adding that the ridership on the route increased on Monday.
“The ridership went up by around 870 to 13,446 today compared to last Monday from morning till 8pm,” said Sandhya Sharma, deputy general manager, NMRC. On February 1, the Aqua Line had recorded a ridership of 12,578 from morning till 8pm, she said.
The fast train service has been made available from terminal stations -- Sector 51 station in Noida and Depot station in Greater Noida -- from 8am to 11am, and 5pm to 8pm on weekdays to cover peak hour rush. Out of the 21 stations on the Aqua Line, 10 stations, which have previously shown low ridership, have been skipped under the new system. The stations that were skipped are: Sector 50, Sector 101, Sector 81, Sector 83, Sector 143, Sector 144, Sector 145, Sector 146, Sector 147 and Sector 148.
Commuters have appreciated the new initiative. “There are a few stations where no one ever gets in. There is no point in stopping at such stations. The new system will save our time,” said Manish Chauhan, a student travelling on the Aqua Line.
Signages and regular announcements with respect to the initiative are being made at all the Metro stations of the Aqua Line, the officials said.
Aishwarya, a daily commuter and a student of an institute in
Greater Noida, said, “I travelled around 4pm and the regular trains were running at the time. However, there was no announcement about the fast trains.”
NMRC also said that the frequency of trains from Monday to Friday will remain the same i.e., 7.5 minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes during non-peak hours. On weekends, Aqua Line trains will continue to run at a frequency of 15 minutes with no skipping of stations.
On Monday, the run time between Sector 51 station and Pari Chowk station was reduced to 28 minutes 30 seconds during the peak hours as against 37 minutes, the officials said.
NMRC had earlier said that QR code-based tickets would not be sold for the left out stations during the ‘fast trains’ running hours.
NMRC has been struggling to increase the ridership on the Aqua Line since it resumed operations after the lockdown in September last year. Before the lockdown, on an average around 18,000 commuters would use the Noida Metro services daily. For example, the Aqua Line had recorded a ridership of 19,064 and 17,720 on March 16 and 17, respectively.
The ridership went up by around 870 to 13,446 today compared to last Monday from morning till 8pm. SANDHYA SHARMA, deputy general manager, NMRC
THE DECISION WAS TAKEN IN AN ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ CHAIRED BY UNION HOME SECRETARY AJAY BHALLA TO RESOLVE THE IMPASSE BETWEEN POLICE AND DTC
NEW DELHI: Days after the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) started recalling its buses given to the Delhi Police on ‘special hire’, after over 45 of them got damaged during the clashes between farmers and police on Republic Day, the state transport utility has now paused the recovery of more buses on the request of the police and has also stated that additional buses will be given as per the demand raised by the force, senior officials said on Monday.
The decision was taken in an “emergency meeting” chaired by Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla on Monday to resolve the impasse between the police and the DTC with regard to the deployment of buses, senior officials who attended the meeting said.
The meeting was also attended by Delhi’s chief secretary Vijay Dev, transport commissioner Ashish Kundra, special commissioner of police Sundari Nanda, state home secretary BS Bhalla and the DTC’S managing director Vijay Bidhuri.
On February 3, the DTC, on the directions of the Delhi government, had started recalling all its buses with immediate effect after at least 45 buses, used by the police to ensure law and order during the tractor rally on Republic Day, were damaged in the ensuing violence.
On February 4, Delhi Police sent a stern letter to the DTC asking it to review its decision. Special commissioner of police Robin Hibu had written to the DTC stating that if any untoward incident happens in Delhi, then the corporation may be held accountable and that the decision to recall all its buses would amount to obstruction in maintaining law and order.
Following the letter, DTC managing director had held a meeting with Hibu, in which the latter also raised the issue of pending dues.
State transport minister Kailash Gahlot said on Monday, “The Delhi Police had taken 576 DTC buses on special hire of which around 350 have been returned so far. It has been decided that no more buses will be recalled by the DTC as of now. Also, it was clarified that the DTC will not deny any bus to the police. Maintaining law and order is extremely important.”
He, however, said the only difference from the previous practice will be that the DTC solely cannot release its buses to the police going forward. “Any request to deploy buses on special hire will have to be approved by the Delhi government. That means the DTC will have to take Delhi government’s approval,” the minister said.
A second senior official who attended the meeting, on condition of anonymity, said a middle path was worked out during the discussion wherein the DTC said it would stagger the release of buses to avoid any inconvenience to daily commuters.
Delhi currently has around 6,693 buses —3,760 DTC buses and 2,933 concessionaire-run cluster buses, as against the Supreme Court-mandated requirement of 11,000 buses.
According to the socio-economic survey that was conducted between November 2018 and November 2019, the preferred mode of transport for 63.62% of Delhi residents is “public bus/school bus/chartered bus”, while only 6.18% residents of the Capital take the Delhi Metro.