Second Metro link to Noida by December 2016.

Connectivity to Noida via the New Delhi Metro corridor is set to be sooner than scheduled. The Janakpuri (west) to Botanical Garden line, which will have two stations in Noida, was scheduled to be complete by July 2017 on the Noida end. It will now be completed by December 2016-January 2017, said sources at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

The Janakpuri (west)-Botanical Garden corridor, also known as line 8, will only be the second corridor to connect Delhi with neighbouring Noida. According to officials, line 8 was supposed to be completed by 2016 till Kalindi Kunj, which is the Delhi side of the corridor. This was to be commissioned in sections. On the Noida side though, the two stations-Okhla Bird Sanctuary and Botanical Garden-were to be completed by mid-2017.

'The agreement with the Noida Authority was that the stations would be completed 33 months from the transfer of land, which made completion target as 2017,' said a senior official. However, with work progressing rapidly - officials said 35 percent of the civil work has been completed already. 'It will now be completed by December 2016, or January 2017 at the latest. It will become operational thereafter, after all the due clearances,' added the official.

Line 8 will go 3.9km into Noida. This section will directly connect Noida with various popular localities in Delhi such as Jamia Milia Islamia University, Kalkaji, Okhla, Nehru Place, IIT, Hauz Khas, RK Puram, Munirka, Vasant Vihar, Indira Gandhi International Airport-Domestic Terminal, Palam, Janakpuri, etc. As per the Detailed Project Report (DPR), about 48,500 commuters are expected to use this section in 2017.

ET