Pune Metro Line 3, connecting Shivajinagar with Maan-Hinjawadi, will be inaugurated on November 3, with services for passengers scheduled to begin from November 4, according to PMRDA Commissioner Dr Abhijit Chaudhary. The 23.2-kilometre corridor is expected to provide a new public transport link to Hinjawadi’s information technology hub, where daily traffic congestion affects a large commuter workforce.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the corridor through video conference, while Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar are scheduled to attend the ceremony, the report said. The main event will be held at 10 am at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sports Complex in Balewadi.
The route has 23 stations in total. Seventeen stations have been prepared for passenger operations in the first phase, according to details provided by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority commissioner. Public services are scheduled to begin at 11 am on November 4, a day after the inauguration.
The corridor is intended to serve the Shivajinagar-Balewadi-Hinjawadi axis, including the employment-intensive Hinjawadi IT Park. For commuters travelling to and from the technology district, the new line will add a rail-based alternative to road journeys that are frequently affected by congestion. The source report, however, does not provide projected daily ridership, travel-time estimates, fares or the exact operating frequency for the initial service.
A prominent feature announced for the line is that all its locomotive pilots will be women. The service is also being referred to as “PunerI Metro” or “Pink Metro” in connection with this staffing arrangement. The announcement places the corridor’s operations within a wider public discussion on women’s participation in transport work, although the report does not provide the total number of pilots or details of their training and deployment.
The line is also being presented as an energy-efficient transport project. Solar panels installed at the stations and depot are reported to generate 7.6 megawatts of electricity. According to the information released by PMRDA, solar power will meet 30 per cent of the metro’s total electricity requirement. The report does not specify whether this figure refers to the corridor’s projected full operations or the initial service phase.
Passenger integration with Pune’s existing metro network is another planned feature. PMRDA has said that tickets for Pune Metro Line 3 and the MahaMetro services will soon be available through a single mobile application. The announcement does not state when the unified ticketing facility will become operational or whether it will support transfers, common fares or other forms of network integration.
The immediate milestones are the November 3 inauguration at Balewadi and the scheduled opening of the first 17 stations to passengers from 11 am on November 4. Further details on fares, timetables and the rollout of the remaining stations were not included in the source announcement.
