Pune Metro Line 3 will charge passengers up to Rs 62 for journeys longer than 18 kilometres between Maan-Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar, making the corridor substantially more expensive than Pune’s existing MahaMetro routes. The line is scheduled to be inaugurated on Tuesday, 3 November, with the fare structure announced by Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) Commissioner Dr Abhijit Chaudhary.
The maximum fare on the 23.2-kilometre Metro Line 3 will be Rs 62, while the minimum fare has been fixed at Rs 12. By comparison, passengers currently pay between Rs 10 and Rs 35 on MahaMetro’s Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)-Swargate and Vanaz-Ramwadi corridors.
The difference means that the minimum fare on Line 3 is Rs 2 higher than on the existing lines, while the maximum fare is Rs 27 higher. The higher tariff will directly affect employees and other regular passengers travelling to and from Hinjewadi IT Park, one of Pune’s major employment destinations.
According to the fare schedule released by PMRDA, passengers travelling up to two kilometres will pay Rs 12. Journeys between two and four kilometres will cost Rs 25, while fares for distances between four and eight kilometres and eight and 12 kilometres will be Rs 37 and Rs 43, respectively. A journey between 12 and 18 kilometres will cost Rs 49, and trips exceeding 18 kilometres will attract the maximum fare of Rs 62.
The fare difference is linked to the structure of the project. Metro Line 3 is being implemented under a public-private partnership model and will be operated by a private company. The project agreement includes a provision to determine fares based on the inflation index, according to the PMRDA commissioner’s explanation.
Chaudhary said the fares were fixed in accordance with the contractual provisions for the PPP project. He also said that fares on metro systems in other Indian cities are determined through similar arrangements and that the rates for Metro Line 3 are broadly comparable with those systems.
The fare structure places Line 3 in a different operating and financial framework from the two existing MahaMetro corridors. While the current lines connect PCMC with Swargate and Vanaz with Ramwadi over 16.6 kilometres and 14.6 kilometres respectively, Line 3 will provide a longer connection between the Hinjewadi area and Shivajinagar.
The contrast in fares is significant for commuters who may use the corridor regularly rather than occasionally. For passengers travelling more than 18 kilometres, the ticket cost on Line 3 will be nearly twice the Rs 35 maximum fare applicable on the existing MahaMetro routes. The PMRDA’s stated basis for the tariff is the inflation-linked provision in the project contract.
The next milestone is the scheduled inauguration of the Maan-Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar corridor on 3 November, after which the notified fare schedule will apply to passenger journeys on the line.
