Footbridge connecting Metro's Blue, Aqua line corridors in Noida to be built soon

Noida: A footbridge will be built here soon to connect Sector 51 and 52 metro stations, the interchange point between the Blue Line and Aqua Line corridors, officials said Tuesday.

The Noida Authority has already started the process of inviting a developer for the 4,000 sq metre land worth Rs 800 crore with a condition that the concessionaire will have to build a footbridge connecting the two stations, the officials said.

Lack of seamless connectivity between the Aqua Line and Blue Line metro corridors has been a major concern for commuters, who have rued absence of an elevated corridor for interchanging corridors.

Commuters either walk the 300-metre distance between the Sector 51 and 52 metro stations on a dedicated pathway or opt for a free e-rickshaw service provided by the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC). In either case, people have to exit the station and go through security checks again, with many complaining of excessive dust on the corridor.

"Bidding for purchasing the plot concerned was opened on May 22 and the last date is June 17. It's estimated cost is Rs 800 crore. The authority has placed a condition that whoever wins the bid will have to build a footbridge between the two metro stations," Rajesh Kumar Singh, the officer on special duty, Noida Authority, told PTI.

He said that if there is no "adequate number" of bidders, tender process would start again and due process would be followed for its allotment.

Asked about an expected date for the beginning of work on the footbridge, Singh said, "Once the tender is finalised, it would depend on the allottee when they can build the footbridge."

NMRC Executive Director P D Upadhyay said the concessionaire chosen by the Noida Authority will also provide a parking facility for around 200 vehicles to the NMRC in the structure.

"Till the skywalk is constructed, NMRC has provided a dedicated pathway of approximately 300 metres between the two stations and has deployed 10 e-rickshaws to carry passengers between the two stations free of cost. The travel time on the pathway is around 1 minute 17 seconds by e-rickshaw and 3 minutes by foot. 

"A lot of passengers have been using this facility and this has also contributed in increase in NMRC's ridership," he said. According to the NMRC, the Aqua Line has an average daily ridership of 13, 317.

Built at a cost of Rs 5,503 crore, the Aqua Line was launched on January 25 and connects Noida and Greater Noida in western Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district, running over 29.7 km via 21 metro stations.