Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday flagged off the Noida Metro Rail Corp (NMRC)`s 29.7-km Noida-Greater Noida metro corridor at Sector 137 station here. The 21-station stretch was completed in record time in December 2018, after being conceptualised by the government in June 2017, Adityanath said while inaugurating the network. It will run from Noida Sector 51 to Depot Metro Station.

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"In Delhi, over 36 lakh passengers commute daily in the metro. If the metro wasn`t there, what would have been the condition of Delhi`s roads?" Adityanath said. "Today we are inaugurating Noida-Greater Noida metro. In a few days, we will also join Ghaziabad with metro," he said while announcing the government`s plans to bring metro connectivity to Kanpur, Agra and Meerut.

Recognising that the public needed safe and environment-friendly public transport systems, he said that metro was the best example of that.

The metro project`s sanction cost was Rs 5,503 crore in which the Central government had "20 per cent equity", Puri said, adding that many modern, citizen-friendly and eco-friendly technologies had been used.

"Solar panels will be installed on the rooftops of each station. All stations will have free drinking water and public toilet services. LED lights will be used in the train coaches and on the stations," Puri said.

The lowest ticket charge for travelling by Aqua Line would be Rs 10 and the highest Rs 50.

The Aqua Line stations will additionally have a metro feeder bus service, which would ensure last-mile connectivity. It has 50 air-conditioned feeder buses till now.

Following the Delhi Metro model, women, senior citizens and the differently-abled will be able to avail the reserved seats service in train coaches in the new line. A common mobility card will allow access to the Noida metro, NMRC city buses and shopping, Puri said. The card, however, would not work in Delhi Metro.

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Ten out of the 21 Aqua Line stations (15 in Noida and 6 in Greater Noida) have been decorated with artworks on different themes -- Noida Sector 51 (Noida city theme), Sector 50 (Indian classical dance), Sector 78 (scenes from Ramayana and Krishna Leela), Sector 81 (contemporary art), Dadri Road (Yoga), Sector 142 (nature), 143 (interactive art), Sector 146 (sports), Alpha 1 (modern living with nature) and GNIDA Office (Greater Noida city theme).