Five more stations on Pune Metro Line 3 get safety clearance, 17 of 23 now approved

The Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar metro project has reached a key milestone. Five more stations on the route have received safety clearance from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS). With this, the process of starting passenger service at 17 of the 23 stations will gain pace.

The metro line from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar is about 23.2 km long, with 23 stations built along the route. Twelve stations had been cleared earlier. With five more added, the number of cleared stations has risen to 17. The entire corridor is 23.203 km long, elevated, and is known as Pune Metro Line 3.

Safety clearance and technical inspection of the remaining six stations are moving quickly. However, clarity on when service will begin will come only after the technical points suggested by the safety agency are completed and the necessary administrative action is done. Clearance of the remaining six stations is also considered equally important.

Nothing has been decided on the inauguration date. Some reports have suggested that the inauguration could take place on November 3, but the available information does not confirm that the date has been officially fixed. Residents of Pune will therefore have to wait for an official announcement from the administration for regular service to begin.

Thousands of people travel daily from Baner, Balewadi, Aundh and Shivajinagar to work at the Hinjewadi IT Park. All these employees hope to benefit from the metro. For several years, traffic jams on this route have kept growing, and many people have spent hours on the road. Once the metro starts, they will have a public transport option. This could cut travel time and reduce the load of vehicles on the roads.

The network of roads around the stations is also being planned with growing crowds in mind. In the Hinjewadi section of the corridor, roads with a total length of 19.2 km are being built around eight stations. The work is expected to be completed by December.

The 19.2 km is not a single new road. The plan includes several short stretches that will connect the metro stations to nearby office areas, residential neighbourhoods and existing roads.

The work will be carried out jointly by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). The planned roads will be about 12 metres to 30 metres wide, while each stretch will be between 0.5 km and 1.5 km long.