Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro to open on November 3 with only 17 of 23 stations operational

The wait of IT employees and ordinary commuters in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad for the Metro is nearing its end. Work on Metro Line 3 from Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar, being built by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) under a public-private partnership, is in its final stage. The Metro is planned to be formally inaugurated virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 3. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to attend the event.

Trials have been on along the route for many days, with trains running empty. Meanwhile, IT employees have been stuck in heavy road traffic. Once the service starts, lakhs of commuters in Hinjewadi IT Park, Wakad, Balewadi, Baner and Shivajinagar are expected to save time and find travel easier. However, it is now clear that the entire route will not be open to passengers at full capacity on the day of the inauguration.

The Maan to Shivajinagar route is 13.2 km long and has 23 stations in all. In the first phase, however, passenger services will run from only 17 stations. Construction work remains at the other six stations, and the required safety clearance has not yet been completed. Passengers will therefore not be able to board or alight there.

The stations that will stay closed in the first phase are Balewadi High Street, Balewadi Phata, Baner Gaon, Baner-Pashan Link Road, Bhosale Nagar and Shivajinagar.

The 17 stations where the Metro will stop in the first phase are Maan, Maan-MIDC Circle, Maan Bus Depot, Hinjewadi Phase 2-Circle 2, Hinjewadi Phase 2-Circle 1, Padmabhushan Chowk, Shri Shivchhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk-Hinjewadi, Hinjewadi Phase 1, Wakad Chowk, Shri Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex-Mhalunge, Micon-Balewadi, R. K. Laxman Museum-Balewadi, Aundh, Sakal Nagar, Savitribai Phule Pune University, College of Agriculture and District Court, Pune.

With Shivajinagar, the most central and important location, staying closed at the start, commuters will face considerable inconvenience. Shivajinagar is a key point for the court area, government offices, educational institutions and connections to other public transport. Passengers will now have to get off at another operational station and continue by bus, auto-rickshaw or their own vehicle.

With the major stations in the Balewadi and Baner areas also closed, the chain of travel will be broken. Even with a Metro station nearby, continuous service will not be available. Citizens will therefore have to depend on alternative transport both to reach a station and for the onward journey.

The bhoomipujan of the roughly Rs 8,313 crore Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro project was performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 8, 2018. Work was delayed against the original schedule, and the deadline had to be extended several times.

Earlier, the first phase of Pune Metro was inaugurated in haste on March 6, 2022. It had 10 stations in all, on the Vanaz to Garware College and PCMC to Phugewadi stretches. Now that not all stations are opening for the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar line either, talk has revived that the inauguration is being rushed through with work incomplete.

On November 3 itself, Prime Minister Modi will also perform the bhoomipujan of four new lines in the second phase of Pune Metro. These are Line 2A (Vanaz to Chandani Chowk), Line 2B (Ramwadi to Wagholi), Line 4 (Khadakwasla to Kharadi) and Line 4A (Nal Stop to Warje-Manikbaug).