Noida: The ridership of Aqua Line metro has increased by almost 30%, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) said on a day operations on the route completed two months.P D Upadhyaya, executive director of NMRC, said ridership was around 13,000 on the first day of operation on January 25. “Now the ridership is around 17,000, which is a 30% increase,” he said.Aqua Line connects Noida Sector 51 to Greater Noida’s Depot station. Officials said the rise in ridership was due to its parking facilities that were opened in 10 stations recently. There has been speculation on the lack of commuters in at least five stations along the route, which do not have too many residential societies around them.A pathway connecting Blue Line’s Sector 52 metro station with Aqua Line’s Sector 51 has also helped increase the number of commuters, the officials said. NMRC has earned Rs 1.99 crore between January 25 and March 25 from the operation. It has recorded a total 6.48 lakh commuters during the same period. NMRC operates Aqua Line trains from 6 am to 10 pm from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, the services start at 8 and end at 10 pm.The trains make 163 trips in a day and the frequency is 10 minutes during peak hours. From March 10, NMRC has also reduced fares for commuters travelling on Sundays and national holidays, fixing the maximum fare at Rs 40. Official data shows that the top five stations in terms of ridership are Sector 51, Sector 76, NSEZ, Knowledge Park II and Pari Chowk.

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