BIG relief for Delhi-NCR commuters as light rail transit system to connect...

Written By Sonali Sharma | Updated: Sep 27, 2024, 10:42 PM IST

The first tender for 12 stations along the expressway was issued in July of last year, with an estimated project cost of Rs 641.5 crore.

After Metro, Rapid Rail, and Mono Rail, the ‘Light Rail System’ in Delhi-NCR. The new Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) will link Noida International Airport to Film City via the Yamuna Expressway and will be integrated with the Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS).

Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on Thursday decided in a board meeting to develop LRTS. NCR Transport Corporation presented plans for a 72-kilometer rapid rail link between Ghaziabad and Noida Airport at the conference.

After the meeting, representatives declared that the central government had received a proposal for the construction of a light rail connection between Noida Airport and Film City. There had previously been intentions to link this 14-kilometer route with a pod taxi system; preliminary planning was done in 2021. In July of last year, the first tender for the construction of 12 stations along the motorway was released. The project is expected to cost Rs 641.5 million.

But YEIDA was then assigned to examine the viability of light rail and pod taxis. The NCRTC produced a project report detailing both pod taxis and light rail after the UP government authorised the 72 km RRTS corridor between Ghaziabad and Noida Airport.

YEIDA CEO Arun Veer Singh stated, “The plan now encompasses three services – metro, RRTS, and light rail – operating on the same track, with only loops and sections differing. Metro trains will run at interval of 3.5 minutes, rapid rail every 7 minutes, and light rail every 8 minutes.”

The scheme has been already approved by the UP government, which has now been forwarded to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for final approval.