Pune: Work on underground Metro route speeds ahead

The total length of the under-construction Metro route is 31 km on two stretches — Pimpri Chinchwad via Shivajinagar to Swargate, and Vanaz to Ramwadi. Except for the 4.2-km-long Shivajinagar to Swargate route, the rest of the stretch is going to be elevated.

“One TBM has already been commissioned and it has been used to construct 70 metres of the underground one-way route from Shivajinagar to Swargate. The second TBM has arrived at the construction site and is being assembled. It will be commissioned next week,” said Atul Gadgil, executive director of Pune Metro. The other two TBMs, likely to be commissioned by next month, will be used on the stretch from Swargate to Shivajinagar.

“At present, the TBM is constructing 8 metres of rail route per day,” said Gadgil. The debris from the construction site is being dumped at a private property in Bavdhan, he said.

Pune Metro is also set to get two trains with three coaches each on December 28. The trains, to be used for trial runs, are being transported from Nagpur to Pune by road.

“The Metro trains have been tested in Nagpur as there is no facility available in Pune so far. They will be initially used for trial runs,” said Brijesh Dixit, managing director of Maha-Metro, the implementing agency of Pune Metro.
Each of the trains will have the capacity to carry 950 to 970 passengers at a time. Of the three coaches in each train, one coach will be reserved for women passengers.

The Metro train is designed to run at a speed of 90 km per hour. Pune Metro is likely to commission the 5-km stretch from Vanaz to Garware College, and Pimpri Chinchwad to Dapodi, in June next year. The agency also has plans to commission the Metro route from RTO to Yerawada.