Aqua Line services back on track after faulty wire repaired

Train services on the Noida-Greater Noida Metro Link resumed on Tuesday morning after a snag had forced operations to be shut for nearly an hour on Monday night. Services were disrupted around 9pm on Monday due to a fault in an overhead electricity line and could not be restored till the closure timing of Metro operations at 10pm.

At least 57 passengers, who were going to Greater Noida’s Pari Chowk from Noida, had to travel in Metro feeder buses from Noida’s Sector 144 Metro station, where the train was halted.

“Teams from Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) fixed the technical problem that disrupted train services on the 29.707-km Aqua Line. Our teams checked the sub-station, from where electricity is supplied, and the overhead electricity line, and resolved the issue, found to be in the transmission line. We resumed services at 6 am, our usual time, on Tuesday,” PD Upadhyay, executive director of the NMRC, said.

The NMRC had started operations on this link on January 26. Officials said on Tuesday that it was a small technical issue in the electricity line and that it was addressed on an urgent basis. “We tried to ensure that the passengers do not face any inconvenience and our buses dropped them without any delay at their destinations,” Upadhyay said.

This was the first instance of a technical glitch which disrupted services on the newly opened link. Officials said NMRC hopes that in times to come, passengers’ influx will increase. They added that as of now, footfall is below expectations.

While on an average 1,910 passengers boarded the Metro from the Pari Chowk station towards Noida, at least 2,443 passengers boarded trains from Noida to go towards Greater Noida, NMRC’s data released for the first 11 days of its operations revealed.

“Once the Blue Line starts operations on the 6.8km-long link, from Noida’s City Centre to Sector 62, next month, passenger influx will increase on the Noida-Greater Noida Metro Link. Since there will be seamless connectivity from Greater Noida to Delhi via the Blue Line’s 6.8km Link, ridership will increase on Aqua Line as well. We aim to provide better services to our passengers,” an NMRC official, not authorised to speak to the media, said.

First Published: Feb 27, 2019 03:17 IST