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To mitigate the traffic hassles faced by those commuting to and from Hinjewadi Information Technology Park, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has urged the authorities to expedite the work between Maan-Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar on Pune Metro Line 3 so as to make services operational by the end of December.
However, Pune City IT Metro Rail Ltd (PITCMRL), the company that is carrying out the work, has reportedly said that it would be able to finish the work only by the end of March next year — which is the extended deadline — although the 23.3 km route from Maan-Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar is 87 per cent completed.
“We have asked the PITCMRL to start full-fledged operations of its Metro rail service from December-end this year. We know that the work of developing stations is going on very slowly. They should speed up the work,” said Yogesh Mhase, PMRDA Commissioner.
Incidentally, the PITCMRL carried out its fourth Metro Rail trial on Wednesday by extending the trial route till Balewadi, giving rise to speculation that it might start the operation in phases instead of starting it on the entire route. “No. There is no possibility of starting Metro service on the route in phases. It will be fully operational whenever it starts,” he said.
According to PITCMRL, the work on the Metro rail 23.3 km route from Maan-Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar is 87 percent completed. “We carried out the fourth successful trial run on Pune Metro Line 3 while achieving a speed of 40 km per hour. It was on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi that the Metro rail achieved a historic milestone as it ventured out of Hinjewadi for the very first time,” said a PITCMRL officer.
The trial run was held from Maan depot to Station No 10 at Balewadi stadium, which would significantly ease the traffic, especially in IT-heavy areas, once operational, he said, adding the target is to launch the service in March 2026.
The Metro route being developed under the public-private partnership between PMRDA and PITCMRL features air-conditioned 3-coach trains, with a capacity of 1,000 passengers and a top speed of 80 km per hour.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (Maha-Metro) has proposed new routes for extending the Metro network in and around Pune city and recently submitted a detailed project report of extending service to Chakan industrial town via Wakad from Nigdi, in addition to the existing metro service route of Vanaz to Ramwadi and PCMC to Swargate. It has also sent proposals for a new route from Khadakwasla to Kharadi via Hadapsar for approval.
