Lucknow, 02 July: The Uttar Pradesh government is continuously making efforts toward strengthening the transport and travel infrastructure in the state. The objective is clear to ensure safer, easier travel for the people of Uttar Pradesh and reduce congestion on the road and address traffic issues along with reducing pollution, said a spokesperson of the state government here on Saturday.
Through new airports, expressways, electric buses, and metro rails in major cities, the government is ready to transform mobility in the state. The Chief Minister has already directed the four departments related to the Urban Development sector related to the operationalization of metro and electronic buses, he said.
According to the spokesperson after the successful run of the metro rails in Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Kanpur the Uttar Pradesh government has focussed on expanding the metro rail services in the state to Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Meerut, Jhansi, and Prayagraj.
During the presentation, the Chief Minister directed the officials of the concerned department to initiate the necessary process in this regard.
Agra Metro coming soon for tourists
To boost urban public transport connectivity in Agra, the construction of a 29.4 km metro corridor comprised of Corridor-1 from Sikandara to Taj East Gate (14 km) and Corridor-2 from Agra Cantt to Kalindi Vihar (15.4 km) in Agra City is underway. The work of primary section Taj East to Jama Masjid 6 km is in progress. It is expected that by January 2026, people and tourists in Agra city will be able to enjoy the metro ride, he said.
Work of Gorakhpur Metrolite to commence in six months
Giving pace to the Gorakhpur metro lite project, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has issued directives to start the work on the project within the period of six months. In its first phase, the 15.14 km long metro lite of Gorakhpur at a cost of Rs 2,670 crore would connect Shyamnagar to Madan Mohan Malviya Engineering College.
The second corridor which is about 13 km long, will connect the medical college with the Nausad Chauraha. The Chief Minister has also given instructions to prepare the DPR of Metrolite- Metro Neo project for the rest of the cities where the metro rail project is proposed. The work of Lucknow Metro Rail Project Phase-1B is under review. With a cost of around Rs 4900 crore, the 12 km long corridor will connect Charbagh railway station to Basant Kunj.
The 4-kilometer ropeway system In Varanasi, being built at the cost of Rs 410 crore, will connect the Cantt railway station to the Church crossing.
Number of electronic buses to be increased twice
The spokesperson said that the UP government is also planning to double the number of electric buses running in 14 cities of the state. As per the need, new routes will also be brought under their purview for the convenience of the public. The service of electric buses will also start in all the municipal corporations.
Aligarh, Azamgarh, Shravasti, Chitrakoot, Sonbhadra to be connected by Air service soon
The government is also going to set up airports in areas that were left behind in the race of development due to certain reasons. The Uttar Pradesh government on July 1 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the operations and maintenance of five airports in the state.
These airports will be developed in Aligarh, Azamgarh, Shravasti, Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra, the district selected under the Regional Connectivity Scheme. Shravasti, Sonbhadra and Chitrakoot are aspirational districts. Air connectivity from here will give new wings to the development of these areas.
Uttar Pradesh has benefited immensely from the ‘UDAN’ scheme launched by Prime Minister Modi. Before 2017, the state had airports mainly in Lucknow and Varanasi while Gorakhpur and Agra had partially functional airports. Then air service was available from these 4 airports to only 25 destinations. Currently, 9 airports are functional and work is underway in 10 airports.
Air services are available to 75 destinations from Uttar Pradesh. The state will soon have five international airports.
