Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the 9.6-km Metro Red Line extension that will connect Delhi’s Dilshad Garden to Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) in Ghaziabad.

On the same day, PM Modi inaugurated the regional flight connectivity terminal near the Hindon airbase and laid the foundation stone for the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project, which will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut.

The 9.6-km metro link will directly connect Ghaziabad to Rithala in Delhi and passenger operations will commence on March 9. The new route has eight stations in Ghaziabad and second to become operational in Ghaziabad. The project cost is pegged at Rs 1,781 crore and will also cater to intracity travel for residents in Ghaziabad city.

“The area of Delhi-NCR face issues of traffic jams and pollution. The Metro rail will improve connectivity and ease traffic conditions on roads. People often complained that they had to spend 2-3 hours travelling back home and to their offices. With the increase of metro network I expect people should give rest to their cars to ease traffic and pollution issues,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The RRTS project will be country’s first mix of rapid rail and metro trains. It will reduce the travelling distance between Delhi and Meerut to just one hour. Besides this, the regional flight terminal will considerably improve the air connectivity to different cities across the country. People can come here for boarding regional flights. It was our commitment that a person wearing slippers will be able to take flights at low rates.”

According to an official, regional flights are likely to start operation from Hindon from the end of April or May. It will cater to peak hour handling capacity for 300 passengers with eight check-in counters. The project is completed at a cost of Rs 60 crore and will operate flights to cities like Nasik, Pithoragarh, Kannur, Hubli, Faizabad, Shimla, Jamnagar, Kalaburgi (Gulbarga).

The RRTS project on the other hand spans 82km between Delhi and Meerut and proposes plying of high speed trains. The project cost is estimated at Rs 30,274 crore and intended target date is end of 2024.

In the initial phase, the RRTS construction will take place on the Sahibabad to Duhai stretch in Ghaziabad.

“The city has now got road, train and metro connectivity. It has taken strides and jumped from 351st position in 2017 to 13 in 2019 in the Swachh Survekshan, results of which were announced on Thursday. The capital investment in the city is also growing as more businesses and set-ups have come up. We are working on the same lines to develop other cities,” he said.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was also preset at the inauguration. “This is the same western UP where people moved out of places like Kandhla and Kairana under previous government. There were heinous cases of crimes ... The situation has changed now and people are feeling safe. It is because ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai,’” he said. “Five years back there were different terror attacks at places in the country and people hardly spoke about India. After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the government stood quiet. It is because ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’ that we destroyed terror camps in surgical strikes in North East and even across Line of Control. With recent air strike we made the impossible, possible.”

First Published: Mar 09, 2019 01:51 IST