From RRTS to pod taxis: Noida, Ghaziabad await transport turnaround

With Noida and Ghaziabad surging ahead with modes of better transport, Jewar airport in Noida adds to its dimensions apart from metro connectivity, pod taxis, rapid rails etc. especially in western Uttar Pradesh and its surrounding districts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated the first RapidX train service to the country and inaugurated it by flagging off the train at the Sahibabad station on October 20.

During the inauguration of the RapidX train, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Uttar Pradesh BJP President Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary were also present. While travelling in the train, some students also accompanied Prime Minister Modi. The Prime Minister wants to send across the message that the common man of Uttar Pradesh will soon travel in the world-class high speed train.

The first phase of the 82-km long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor has been inaugurated by PM Modi where he flagged off the country's first rapid rail service "Namo Bharat".

As much as 30,000 crore has been spent on the "Namo Bharat" project. At present, the first phase of this 17-km long railway project will operate from the Sahibabad station to Duhai Depot in Ghaziabad.

Meanwhile, the RaidX rail consists of five stations which include Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai and Duhai Depot. Initially 10 to 13 trains will run on this track which will be complete its destination in just 11 to 12 minutes since the train runs at a speed of 160 km per hour.

In the second phase, this train will be run up to Meerut South station in the year 2024. Whereas in the year 2025, RapidX rail will run on the entire railway corridor from Delhi-Meerut. The fare from Duhai depot to Sahibabad station in the general coach of this train will be Rs 50.

If one travels in premium coach then this fare will cost Rs 100 and the operating time of this train will be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. There will be no fare for children up to 90 cm height. The passengers can carry with them lauggage weighing maximum 25 kg.

New developmental projects are being launched in the Yamuna Authority area. Due to the airport being built in Greater Noida's Jewar, the development of this area has been rapid and at the same time, efforts are also being made to settle this entire area in a unique way in NCR.

Earlier, there was a plan to run pod taxis in the residential and industrial sectors of Yamuna Authority, now along with them, preparations are being made to implement the plan to run trams there as well. The Yamuna Authority has sent the detailed project report of pod taxis to the Uttar Pradesh government for which the work on this project will start only after approval from it.

Yamuna Authority officials have started studying many cities for planning to operate trams and city buses in their residential and industrial sectors. With these facilities, people will be able to travel from every block of the sector at low cost and without any hassle. For better transportation facilities, Yamuna Authority has prepared a plan to run pod taxis, trams and city buses.

On one hand, city bus service will be connected to the blocks of each sector. The tram will be run on every 30 metre wide road. Apart from Film City and industrial sectors, DPR has already been prepared for pod taxis in residential sectors. Both residential Sectors-18 and 20 of YEIDA are situated within a radius of about 10 km.

Apart from this, Yamuna Authority has allotted land to more than 3,000 companies of which some some have also started production here.

Once the companies are started in the area, about 2.5 to 3 lakh people will get employment. In view of the poor transport system of Noida and Greater Noida, Yamuna Authority has already started planning to provide better connectivity.

Along with this, Yamuna Authority has also said that it has prepared a DPR to build a metro corridor from Noida Airport to New Delhi railway station. This corridor will be about 77-km long. At present, a survey is being conducted regarding the Aqua Blue Line Corridor, after which the tender process will start.

PM e-bus service will soon reach every corner of Gautam Buddha Nagar. The city residents are soon going to get hassle-free transport services for which 37 routes have been finalised from Jewar to Greater Noida West in Gautam Buddha Nagar.

Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation has finalised 37 routes for the operation of PM e-bus service. The Noida Authority has also completed preparations for it, soon 100 mini-buses (around nine metre) will start operating from Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) City Bus Depot located in Sector-90.

Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna and Jewar Airport have been included in the prepared route. The work of preparing request for proposal (RFP) for bus operation has been started by Noida Traffic Cell (NTC).

On Wednesday, NTC held talks with UMTC representatives regarding Route 37, due to which there was a detailed discussion on connecting the entire district to the city bus service network. In the operation of city bus, service will be made available to the city residents from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The routes that have been finalised for buses in Gautam Buddha Nagar include Kasna-Surajpur-Vijay Nagar Station, Greater Noida Depot to Sector 37 via Expressway, Dankaur-LG Gol-Suraj Pur Court, Dadri-Surajpur-IOC Roundabout Noida. Sector-22-Surajpur- Dadri, Greno Achhar-Gal Gotiya-Sharda Hospital-Surajpur Court, Sector-62-Noida City Centre-Sector-37, Jewar Airport, Gaur City Greno West, Jewar Airport-Pari Chowk-Surajpur-Dadri Marg, Sector 62-Sector 37-Bhangel-Dadri Marg, Sector 62-JIMS Hospital, Sector-37-Char Murti- Gautam Buddha University Marg, from Botanical Garden Metro Station. Greno Authority, Sector-22 to Kasna, Botanical Bus Stop to Sector-62, Botanical Garden-Advent, Sector-62 -Gaur City Echhar, Botanical Garden- Kasna Village, Gaur City-Noida City Center Metro Station, Botanical Garden Metro Station- chaparoli cut, Shashi Chowk to Ash City, Shashi Chowk to Cap Town, Shashi Chowk-Ek Murti, Shashi Chowk-Mahagun Mart, Shashi Chowk-Amrapali Silicon, Sector- 62- Gaur City- Greno Authority, Sector 15-Sector 62, Yamuna Authority- Dankaur. Roundabout-Botanical Garden, Sector 62-Jewar Airport, Sector-35-Jewar Airport, Sector 62- 12, 22-Roundabout, Model Chowki-12, 22-Roundabout, Sector-35-Surajpur-Dadri, Sector 12,22- Greno Authority-Jewar Airport, IOC-University-Jewar Airport, Sector-35-Surajpur-Jewar Airport, Sector-35-Pari Chowk-Kasna-Jewar Airport have been included.