By Sampurna Majumder
In a bid to ease the traffic congestion experienced by commuters traveling to and back from the Information Technology Park Hinjewadi, PMRDA has requested that PITCMRL expedite construction work on the Metro Line 3 section between Maan-Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar so that it is completed by December.
Pune City IT Metro Rail Ltd, the executing agency for the project, has stated that it will strive to complete all construction work by the end of March next year. Although it is an extended deadline, the PITCMRL has finished 87% of the 23.3 km route from Maan-Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar.
“We have asked the PITCMRL to start full fledged operations of its Metro Rail Service from December end this year. They should take station construction more seriously and complete the work faster; as of now deadlines are too far away,” PMRDA Commissioner Yogesh Mhase shared. PMRDA urges Hyderabad-based PITCMRL to complete work on Metro services between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar by the end of December, but PITCMRL estimates completion only by March 2026.
With the current pace of work, PITCMRL has completed the fourth metro rail trial and extended the trial route to Balewadi, leading to speculation that they might opt for a phased approach to operations instead of launching all sections of the route at once. “No, there is no possibility of starting Metro service on the route in phases. It will be fully operational when it starts,” he said.
PITCMRL claims that the work on the metro rail is 87% complete. “We conducted the fourth successful trial run on Pune Metro Rail 3. It is on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi that the metroline achieved a new milestone as it ventured out of Hinjewadi for the very first time,” shared the PITCMRL officer.
He said the trial ran from the Maan depot to Station no. 10 at Balewadi Stadium will greatly reduce congestion in the IT driven hubs once the line is operational. Metro service is scheduled to be launched in March 2026.
The metro under construction is a result of the public-private partnership between the PITCMRL and PMRDA. It will have fully air-conditioned three-car trains with a capacity of 1,000 passengers each and a maximum speed of 80 km/h.
Recently, the Maharashtra Metro Rail Ltd submitted to extend the metro network in and around Pune city, where new proposed routes include extending the service to Chakan industrial town via Wakad from Nigdi alongside the existing metro route of Vanaz to Ramwadi and PCMC to Swargate. It had also sent proposals for the new route from Khadakwasla to Kharadi passing through Hadapsar.