The ambitious project to construct a metro rail link between New Delhi Railway Station and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh is finally taking shape.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday (13 November) signed an agreement with the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEOIDA) for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for the construction of the proposed metro rail link.

The proposed rail link is part of the state government's plan to provide last-mile metro connectivity till the Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar.

As part of this plan, the NIA and the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) will be connected via the New Delhi Railway Station. Currently, the Airport Express Line or the "Orange" Line, connects New Delhi Railway Station to the IGI Airport.

The construction of this new metro route will thus provide hassle-free connectivity to passengers between both the airports in the national capital region, which are around 75 km apart and will have a travel time of about one hour.

DPR By 2023

According to the press release, the YEIDA has asked the DMRC to submit the complete DPR by 31 March, 2023.

The proposed distance from Greater Noida's Knowledge Park area to New Delhi Railway Station will be about 37 km, of which 3 km will be underground and 34 km will be elevated. The proposed route will have 11 stations.

Separately, another metro rail stretch between Knowledge Park in Greater Noida and NIA will also be developed.

“The location of the stations in the DPR of this metro route will be kept in such a way that the Delhi-Noida route will be established earlier. Stations can be integrated," it added.

Along with this, the check-in facility for Noida International Airport will be available to the passengers at various stations of this airport line.

NIA To Be Ready By 2024

NIA is the upcoming greenfield airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. It will enhance domestic as well as international connectivity to and from Delhi-NCR, Noida and Western Uttar Pradesh.

The airport, billed to be India's largest upon completion, will be developed in four phases, after which it would have an annual passenger capacity of 70 million and two terminal buildings, spread across an area of 5,000 acres.

As per the concession agreement, the first phase for 12 million passengers per annum is to be completed and made operational by September 2024.

The Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a subsidiary of the Swiss firm Zurich Airport International AG (ZAIA), which is developing the airport, recently said the first phase of the mega aviation project is on schedule.

"We are on schedule to deliver the project as per the terms and conditions of the concession agreement," Christoph Schnellmann, the chief executive officer of the YIAPL, told a press conference in Greater Noida last month.