PM's visit postponed, Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro again waits for an inauguration date

Hinjewadi's roads face punishing traffic jams every day, while a gleaming Metro runs empty alongside. IT employees are angrily asking how much longer they must wait for things to change.

All technical clearances have been received, yet for more than three months only empty trial runs have operated on this route. The Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro has been without passengers for 100 days. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's scheduled visit has now been pushed back, so a new date will have to be found for the actual inauguration. There is widespread surprise that a ready Metro is running without passengers only because a ceremony has not been held.

All 17 stations between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar have received the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety's clearance for passenger service. The administration had planned to dedicate the project during Prime Minister Modi's visit in the first week of November. It had been hoped that, right after Diwali, IT professionals and the people of Pune would get major relief from traffic jams.

However, according to administrative and police sources, the visit has been postponed, so the early-November deadline has also passed. As a result, the question of when the Metro will actually open to the general public is stuck once again.

As per the original plan, the route should have been operational at the start of last year. The work was repeatedly delayed and the March 2026 deadline was also missed. The Chief Minister's Office then intervened and had ordered that the first 12 km stretch be completed.

The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Pune IT City Metro completed work on the 12 stations of the first phase and had them inspected. Then, for the greater convenience of passengers, it was decided to run the line all the way to the Shivajinagar district court, and approval for the remaining five stations was also obtained. Service was expected to begin once the technical formalities were completed, but the inauguration was derailed again by the model code of conduct for the Legislative Council elections.

The state government kept up pressure on the PMRDA and the developer company to finish the project on time. But now that all technical and safety approvals are in hand, it is being alleged that lakhs of people are being kept away from the service only because of insistence on a formal inauguration.

Traffic experts and ordinary people say that passenger service could have been started immediately on a route that is ready for people's convenience. The formal ceremony could have been held later, according to the VIP's schedule.