Pune Metro Line 3 will operate with a separate ticketing system, requiring passengers making cross-network journeys to scan two QR codes when transferring between the corridor and MahaMetro’s existing lines, MahaMetro Managing Director Shravan Hardikar said on Monday.
The arrangement will apply to journeys involving the Hinjawadi–Shivajinagar corridor, which has been developed by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), and the two existing MahaMetro corridors: Vanaz–Ramwadi and Pimpri-Chinchwad–Swargate. A single journey ticket covering all three corridors will carry two QR codes, which passengers must scan at the respective entry points.
MahaMetro currently issues a common ticket for travel on the Vanaz–Ramwadi and Pimpri-Chinchwad–Swargate corridors. The Hinjawadi–Shivajinagar line, however, will retain a separate ticketing arrangement because it is being operated under a different institutional system. The new process will allow passengers to purchase tickets for journeys across the network, but they will need to use the relevant QR code at each access point.
Tickets will be available at metro stations across the network, through the MahaMetro mobile application and via WhatsApp, according to the information shared by the authority. Passengers whose journey involves the PMRDA-operated corridor will scan the two QR codes separately while changing services.
Users of National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) will not need to purchase separate tickets for such journeys. They will be able to tap their cards at both entry points to access the respective metro services. This provides a different transfer process from QR-code ticket users, who will have to keep track of both codes printed on their ticket.
The separate ticketing system reflects the fragmented institutional structure behind Pune’s expanding metro network. MahaMetro operates the existing two corridors, while PMRDA has developed the Hinjawadi–Shivajinagar line. Although passengers will be able to plan journeys across all three corridors, the operational separation will remain visible at the point where commuters transfer between systems.
The launch of the third corridor is expected to substantially increase metro usage in Pune. Hardikar said MahaMetro anticipates an addition of around one lakh passengers to daily ridership once the Hinjawadi–Shivajinagar line becomes operational. The existing two corridors carry between 2.5 lakh and nearly 3 lakh passengers on an average day, with daily footfall crossing the three-lakh mark on some occasions.
The new corridor is expected to expand metro access for IT employees and other commuters travelling between Hinjawadi and central Pune. Its ridership impact will depend in part on how easily passengers can transfer between the PMRDA-operated line and MahaMetro’s existing services. For now, the announced arrangement means QR-ticket users will face an additional scanning step, while NCMC users will tap their cards at both entry points.
