NOIDA: The Noida-Greater Noida Aqua line Metro project seems to be running on the right track. The first train of the under-construction 29.7km Metro corridor was dispatched on Thursday from Nanjing in China. This is a trial train that is expected to reach the Greater Noida depot by the second week of December, officials said. The Metro is expected to roll out by April 2018.
According to officials, this train will reach Shanghai from Nanjing via road on Friday. It will then be shipped from Shanghai port to Mundra port in Gujarat and the journey will take around three weeks. And once it reaches Mundra port, the train will be sent to the Greater Noida depot by road. It is expected to reach the depot by the second week of December, taking into account customs and other formalities.
Thereafter, the second train will arrive by the end of December. In total, 19 train of four coaches each will be manufactured and shipped by CRRC Nanjing Corporation Limited, a Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer, which is supplying trains to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the corridor. An MoU was inked between the two companies in March last year as part of the Rs 836 crore rolling stock contract. If all goes as per plan, trials for the corridor will likely be launched by the end of this year.
"It is good news as connectivity of NCR is set to get enhanced. The Noida-Greater Noida Metro project is running on schedule and with the dispatch of the first train from China, we expect the trials to begin before the end of this year," Alok Tandon, managing director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), told TOI.
According to NMRC officials, the Aqua line will support 76 coaches, which are the corridor's requirement up to 2021. A total of 19 trains will run between Noida and Greater Noida at 35 km/hour.
Initially, NMRC will operate 11 trains along the corridor. While the seating capacity of each train will be 186, the standing capacity will be 848 passengers, totalling to 1,034 commuters. There will also be 64 special seats of a dark Aqua colour for women, senior citizens and the specially abled in each train.
The coaches are lightweight and made of stainless steel and aluminium. Each train will be equipped with a passenger information system, a passenger announcement system and an emergency announcement system from the operation control centre of the train. The trains will also have a radio for communication between drivers and an operation control centre.
Officials said currently the civil work on the under-construction Metro track is about 98% complete, with only seven of total 2,500 girders left for lifting. Nearly 29 km of viaduct out of the 29.7km of the corridor has already been put in place by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. About 30 km of rail track of the total 60 km has also been laid till now. The finishing work of 21 Metro stations is currently underway.
According to officials, this train will reach Shanghai from Nanjing via road on Friday. It will then be shipped from Shanghai port to Mundra port in Gujarat and the journey will take around three weeks. And once it reaches Mundra port, the train will be sent to the Greater Noida depot by road. It is expected to reach the depot by the second week of December, taking into account customs and other formalities.
Thereafter, the second train will arrive by the end of December. In total, 19 train of four coaches each will be manufactured and shipped by CRRC Nanjing Corporation Limited, a Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer, which is supplying trains to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the corridor. An MoU was inked between the two companies in March last year as part of the Rs 836 crore rolling stock contract. If all goes as per plan, trials for the corridor will likely be launched by the end of this year.
"It is good news as connectivity of NCR is set to get enhanced. The Noida-Greater Noida Metro project is running on schedule and with the dispatch of the first train from China, we expect the trials to begin before the end of this year," Alok Tandon, managing director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), told TOI.
According to NMRC officials, the Aqua line will support 76 coaches, which are the corridor's requirement up to 2021. A total of 19 trains will run between Noida and Greater Noida at 35 km/hour.

Initially, NMRC will operate 11 trains along the corridor. While the seating capacity of each train will be 186, the standing capacity will be 848 passengers, totalling to 1,034 commuters. There will also be 64 special seats of a dark Aqua colour for women, senior citizens and the specially abled in each train.
The coaches are lightweight and made of stainless steel and aluminium. Each train will be equipped with a passenger information system, a passenger announcement system and an emergency announcement system from the operation control centre of the train. The trains will also have a radio for communication between drivers and an operation control centre.
Officials said currently the civil work on the under-construction Metro track is about 98% complete, with only seven of total 2,500 girders left for lifting. Nearly 29 km of viaduct out of the 29.7km of the corridor has already been put in place by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. About 30 km of rail track of the total 60 km has also been laid till now. The finishing work of 21 Metro stations is currently underway.
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