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A New Skywalk In Noida To Connect Aqua Line’s Sector 51 Metro Station And Blue Line’s Sector 52 Metro Station – Project Details And Significance

At the outset, let the terms “Skywalk”, “Aqua Line ” and “Blue Line ” be understood.

SKYWALK

Skywalk, also known by the names sky walkway , skybridge or skyway, is  a type of  pedway in an urban area, which is elevated and  connects two or more buildings. The dictionary meaning of a skywalk is a high walkway, which is  between two buildings

AQUA LINE

The Aqua Line,  which is a line of NOIDA Metro,  runs from Sector 51 of NOIDA to Depot Station in Greater Noida and has 21 metro stations.

BLUE LINE

Blue Line  is a line  of the , which connects  Dwarka 21 Metro Station in New Delhi with Vaishali in Ghaziabad  and with Noida Electronic City in NOIDA by bifurcating at Yamuna Bank Metro Station from where  it travels  alternately towards Vaishali and Noida Electronic City. It passes through Sector 52 of NOIDA while travelling to NOIDA Electronic City.

NEW SKYWALK PROJECT TO CONNECT SECTOR 51 AND SECTOR 52 METRO STATIONS IN NOIDA

Sector 51 Metro Station on Aqua Lime  and Sector 52 Metro Station of Blue Line are linked  by  a 300-metre walkway. Travellers face big challenges due to a large distance  between the Sector-51 Metro Station of the Aqua Line and Sector-52 Metro Station of the Blue Line. For commuting between these two stations, people have to undergo  frequent ups and downs. Moreover,  in the recent years, footfall at both metro stations as also  the number of people switching between the two metro stations have increased. Thus a smooth connectivity between the two lines has been a demand of the commuters for years.

In order to address this issue, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation, in collaboration with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, made a survey and it came out that there was no space and the alignment also being not visible, there was no vacancy on the spot for a new station to be built. Thus, taking into account the  problems faced by the commuters, a  new skywalk project was started by the NOIDA  Authority  for connecting these two Metro Stations. This will act as an interchange between Blue Line  and Aqua Line for commuters

DETAILS OF THE PROJECT

• The length of this Skywalk will be 420-metre and width is 5-metre.

• Skywalk will be ‘L’ shaped, due to  adjacent plot having  been allocated for commercial activities to a foreign private firm.

• The skywalk, which will have components of civil and electrical works, will be air-conditioned.

• There will be travelator moving at 0.5 metres per second speed which will  facilitate a quick interchange between the two stations.

• The Contract of the Work was awarded to M/S Iqbal Constructions Company was awarded on January 9, 2023 and the deadline for completing the civil works was kept at October 5, 2023, which has not been extended.

• During excavation, a metro line’s underground cable was found and it  was not viable to remove the cables. Therefore,  the skywalk’s design had to be changed, Earlier, it was proposed as  one-column structure but due to the existence of the underground cable, it was changed to two column structure.The revised project was also got vet from IIT Delhi .
• The cost of skywalk has increased due to  above mentioned change in design.

PROPOSED COMPLETION

As per NOIDA authority officials, 70% of the civil work has been completed. During a recent inspection of this  under-construction skywalk  by the  CEO of  NOIDA  Authority, directions were issued to the officials to complete the work by the end of May, 2024..

SIGNIFICANCE

On completion of this new Skywalk,

• Walking distance between the two metro stations and will be significantly reduced which will result in saving of time.

• Travelator available on the Skywalk will help in quick movement between the two stations

• commuters will not exit stations for switching over to other routes for reaching their destinations.

• There will be pedestrian safety and convenience.

• Commuters will be saved from vehicular pollution/moise and also will be protected  during harsh weather conditions as Skywalk will be fully covered.

• The Skywalk will have zones of venders where commuters may avail eating and drinking servies  and may relax as in many other metro stations.

CONCLUSION

On completion of this new Skywalk between Sector 51 and Sector 52 metro stations on the NMRC’s Aqua line and  DMRC’s Blue respectively a  long outstanding demand  of Commuters will be met. This Corridor will prove a boon for commuters, and their time and energy will be saved with the reduction of distance.