Pune Metro

A wait of more than 5 years was over on 6th March when Punekars got their metro, though partially open, it was the criteria that made Pune fully fit in the category 'Metro Cities'. Line 1 was  partially opened from Vanaz Company to Garware College and Line 2 was partially opened from PCMC to Phugewadi.

In this post, I would be writing information about this project and about my experience in Pune Metro.

Project Information

For any major project to be implemented, it needs approval from all levels of government. The first proposal for Pune Metro and the DPR was presented in 2010 and 2008 respectively. However delay by the PMC in submitting the proposal to central gov. led in the delay in its approval by almost 4 years after the state government approval, and finally the government led by PM Modi gave the project its approval on 7 Dec 2016 and the foundation stone was laid by PM Modi on 24 Dec 2016. 

An approval has also been given for a third line from Hinjewadi - Shivajinagar/Civil Court. The difference between Line 1, 2 and line 3 is that, first 2 lines are being operated by MAHA METRO and the 3rd line is being undertaken by PMRDA.

The current two running lines are estimated to fully open by this year end and the 3rd line by 2026 as per Wikipedia.

Few extensions have also been proposed to the above mentioned lines which are written in the image below - 

(Image - Wikipedia)

My Experience 

Being a railfan, I couldn't resist myself from riding the metro. But my exams and the excess crowd was the reason I had to delay the ride till 15 March '22.

(Image: My Camera)

Finally, along with 2 of my friends I rode the metro from Vanaz to Garware and back to Ideal Colony. It was one of the best experiences I've had. Seeing the city, the roads from a height was a different experience in all at the same time it was weird as well. Weird because it was my first time in any metro and I had never travelled in it and as I mentioned it was my first time seeing the city from a height.

(Image: My Camera)

There were also few observations that I have noted. 

Starting from the station the ticketing though hassle free is not properly managed, you have to go through too much of crowd while scanning the ticket.

Few of the inaugurated stations are still under construction and 1 out of 2 floors haven't been completed. We would've waited till year end for the full network to open, there was no need to open it in so much of haste.

The frequency of the trains is also low which needs to be increased.

Pune metro was built to decrease traffic albeit it has increased traffic on Karve Road, the newly built flyover on Karve Road has reduced traffic but at the same time it has led to congestion at few parts of the road.

Nevertheless, I feel that this project has great potential in it once it opens fully. When stations like Deccan, PMC Building, Railway Station, Swargate are opened, the strain on PMPML will also reduce and it will help in reducing the crowd significantly. However I am unsure about how much vehicle traffic will it reduce.