The overall progress of the ₹11,400 crore Pune Metro project has reached 44 per cent and by mid-2021, the 13-km route consisting of two lines will be commercially operational, said Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director of Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (Maha-Metro)

Maha-Metro is a 50:50 joint venture of the Government of India and Maharashtra State governemnt.

Dixit in a telephonic interaction with BusinessLine said that the starting station for the project is near Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and the line will run for 7 km up to Dapodi. The work on this North-South corridor is about 75 per cent complete. Eventually, this line will connect up to the Swargate area of Pune city. About 6 km work on the second line from Vanaz up to Garware college is 65 per cent complete, the line will be extended up to Ramwadi area of the city. Vanaz-Ramwadi is on the East-West corridor, he said.

Multi-modal transportation hub

He said that at Swargate a multi-modal transportation hub will be created. It is a multi-tier hub with Metro line running underground and above will be separate tiers for local city buses, inter-State buses and taxis. Pedestrian traffic will be fully separated from all other modes with one dedicated tier, he said.

He said that the design of the multimodal transportation hub has been inspired by the Gare du Nord station in Paris and stations in Hong Kong. Above the transportation hub, there will be a multi-storey building for commercial use. The Maha-Metro is developing three more such hubs in Pune.

He added that initially, the passenger footfall will be five lakh per day, which may increase to 10 lakh. The Metro rail coaches will be fully made of Aluminum by a subsidiary of Titagarh Wagons Ltd.

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