11,625 passengers on day 1 for Aqua Line, real test on Monday

The Noida-Greater Noida Metro, which opened for public on Saturday, witnessed a total ridership of 11,625 passengers on day one, with officials expecting a major surge Monday onwards.

The metro rail service, also known as the Aqua Line, was inaugurated Friday by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath but it was opened for citizens only on Republic Day, with curtailed timings from 10 am to 5 pm, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) said.

"Total ridership on the metro line stood at 11,625, with the highest number of passengers boarding from Pari Chowk and Depot Stations (also the terminus station at one end) in Greater Noida," NMRC Executive Director P D Upadhyay said.

"Overall 266 smart cards and 11,440 QR-coded paper tickets were purchased by the passengers on day one," he said.

The sales of cards and tickets fetched the NMRC Rs 3.60 lakh, Upadhyay said, adding that if top up values in smart cards is included then the amount goes up to Rs 4.43 lakh.

The metro card, built in ..