Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a ride on the Pune Metro on March 6 from Garware Station to Vanaz to launch operations of the metro rail service in Pune. Commercial operations on the network will begin immediately after the PM’s metro ride.
According to the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha Metro), the 50:50 JV between the Centre and the Maharashtra government, which is the nodal agency for the project, work on the priority stretch has been completed. This is a 12-km stretch of the project with 10 stations.
The Rs 11,420-crore-31.25 km Pune Metro Phase 1 comprises a 16.58-km Corridor-1 from Pimpri Chinchwad to Swargate with 14 stations and a 14.66-km Corridor-2 from Vanaz to Ramwadi with 16 stations. Operations would start on the first priority stretch as from Garware College to Vanaz and the second from Pimpri-Chinchwad to Phugewadi.
The Pune Metro project work started in December 2016 and the deadline to end project was 2021 but disruption caused by the pandemic delayed start by more than a year. The Pune Metro project is funded through bilateral loan from European Investment Bank to the tune of €600 million and €245 million from AFD.
MahaMetro has already started work on a Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for extension of the existing Pune Metro network lines. Maha Metro has also started conducting survey the planning for Phase 2 Corridor which is expected to be around 82.5 kms.
