French Firm Keolis To Operate Pune Metro’s Hinjawadi–Shivajinagar Corridor, Services Likely To Start By March 2026

French transportation company Keolis, headquartered in Paris, has been awarded the contract to manage operations for Pune Metro’s third line connecting Hinjawadi and Shivajinagar, a press release from the company informed.

The management agreement was formally signed between Keolis and Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited (PITCMRL).

As part of its agreement, Keolis will oversee the maintenance of 22 Alstom-manufactured metro trains and ticketing operations across all 23 stations.

In a progressive move, the company has also announced that the Hinjawadi–Shivajinagar corridor will feature an all-women fleet of metro pilots, emphasising its commitment to gender inclusivity in public transport.

The 23 km stretch, which is being developed by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, has already completed trial runs and is expected to open to the public by March 2026.

The route will include 23 stations, easing travel for thousands of daily commuters, particularly IT professionals working in the Hinjawadi hub, while linking them directly to central Pune.

So far, around 87 per cent of the construction is complete.

The project has a total cost of Rs 8,313 crore, with Rs 1,315 crore invested by private companies and Rs 4,789 crore secured through loans from financial institutions, Free Press Journal reported.

Additional support will come through Rs 1,224.8 crore as viability gap funding from the Union government and Rs 90.58 crore from the Maharashtra state government.

With most of the heavy civil works nearing completion, the project is moving steadily towards its commissioning deadline.

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