NOIDA (Metro Rai News): Daily ridership on Noida Metro’s Aqua Line has crossed 85,000 in September, up from around 70,000 in August. Officials link the increase to the opening of the Sector 51-52 skywalk, which has made transfers between the Aqua Line and Delhi Metro’s Blue Line easier.
Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) data shows that average daily ridership on the Aqua Line has reached around 85,000 this month. This is more than 20% higher than the roughly 70,000 daily passengers before the skywalk opened.
Noida Authority CEO Krishna Karunesh said the new interchange facility has helped increase ridership. He said around 85,000 commuters now use the station every day, compared with about 70,000 before the skywalk opened. He put the rise at around 21%.
Noida Metro’s Aqua Line ridership picks up
The latest increase on the Noida Metro’s Aqua Line comes after a gradual rise in passenger numbers over the past few months.
The weekly brief metro & rail professionals read.
- June 2026: 60,705 daily passengers
- July 2026: 61,811 daily passengers
- August 2026: 73,298 daily passengers
- September 2026 so far: Around 85,000 daily passengers
The September figure is about 16% higher than the August monthly average. Compared with the roughly 70,000 daily passengers recorded before the skywalk opened, the increase is around 21%. The skywalk opened to the public on August 28.
One-kilometre transfer replaced by direct connection
Before the facility opened, passengers had to walk nearly one kilometre to transfer between Delhi Metro’s Blue Line Sector 52 station and the Noida Metro’s Aqua Line Sector 51 station. The new connection has made the transfer much shorter and easier. It also lets commuters switch between the two Metro lines without buying another ticket.
The facility is a 400-metre-long, L-shaped, air-conditioned skywalk. It also has travelators to help passengers cover the distance more easily. A Sector 50 resident, Akansha Singh, said the facility has made the interchange more convenient, particularly during extreme weather. She said the journey now takes around four to five minutes, with travelators helping passengers along the route.
Project took more than 3 years to complete
The skywalk was launched in March 2023 with a target of completing it within a year. It eventually took more than three years to reach public use. Several changes during construction pushed up both the timeline and cost. The original design called for a single-pillar structure. During excavation, workers found an underground metro cable, forcing a redesign with two-column supports.
Another obstruction was later found near the Sector 51 station entry. A beam was blocking the planned access point, prompting the Noida Authority to modify the design and extend the skywalk. Construction was also affected by restrictions imposed by the National Green Tribunal during the winter season. These changes increased the project cost from ₹25 crore to ₹33 crore.
The ridership jump suggests that the physical gap between two connected metro networks can influence how passengers use them. The Sector 51-52 link has removed a major inconvenience for commuters transferring between the Noida Metro‘s Aqua Line and Delhi Metro’s Blue Line.
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