Pune Metro: Trial Run To Start Soon On 1.5 km Underground Section Between Range Hill And Shivajinagar

Pune Metro trial run is expected to start soon on the 1.5 km of underground tunnels from Range Hill to the Shivajinagar station.

Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro), a joint Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Government of India (GoI) and Government of Maharashtra (GoM), is the executing agency of Pune Metro rail project. 

The Pune Metro rail is developing a total of 30 km of rail route from Vanaz to Ramwadi and Pimpri Chinchwad to Swargate in Phase I.

The route from Vanaz to Ramwadi is elevated. The route from Pimpri Chinchwad to Rangehill is elevated and the route is underground from Shivajinagar to Swargate.

The construction on the link connecting the tunnels to the overhead portion has neared completion.

The trials on the elevated portion have already started. 

“A plan for the initial trial run and subsequent extension is being finalised. Running of trains on trial basis will begin any time, though we have set a December first week target,” a Maha Metro official said, reports Economic Times.

The underground trials take on added significance, as the rakes pass through the tunnels for the first time.

The total cost of the Pune Metro project is over Rs 11,400 crore. The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone for the project on 24 December 2016.

On Monday (14 November), MahaMetro officials announced a proposal to gradually extend the operation of rakes till the Civil Court station over the course of the following month. 

Trials were supposed to start in the underground part in November, but the plan was postponed since land wasn't available for the construction of a viaduct in the Khadki and Range Hills portion.

Pune’s public transport share is 12 per cent and it has the highest two-wheeler population in the country. The daily metro ridership of Pune is expected to increase gradually to six lakh per day.

Since March, operations have been partially underway on both routes — Vanaz to Garware College and Pimpri Chinchwad to Phugewadi.

By the end of December, the Pune Metro intends to expand its service from Phugewadi and Garware College to the Civil Court. Both routes cross at the Civil Court, which serves as an interchange station.

The Shivajinagar Metro Station is a multimodal integration that provides easy access to the Shivajinagar Railway Station, PMPML and MSRTC bus depots. It will be linked to the Hinjewadi Metro Station and the Civil Court route.