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Hinjewadi Metro set for Nov 3 launch, PM to flag off virtually
Passenger services on Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro Line 3 are set to commence on November 3, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to flag off the service virtually
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PUNE: After repeated missed deadlines and delays in securing the inauguration date, passenger services on the 23-km Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro Line 3 are set to commence on November 3, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to flag off the service virtually and the chief minister attending the inauguration in person, a senior officer said on Monday.
An official announcement is expected in the next two days after the code of conduct for MLC polls is lifted. The metro route was earlier to go live on November 3, but the prime minister deferred his Pune visit to the second half of next month leading to uncertainty over it.
At a meeting between Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) officials and representatives of the project company on Monday, the readiness of the corridor and the arrangements required for the launch were reviewed.
“We discussed the readiness of the project and operationalisation of the route which is kept for November 3,” said the officer. Modi, according to the officer, will flag off the metro line 3 through video conferencing while chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will be present in person.
Of the 23 stations on the elevated corridor, 17 are ready, while the authority is pushing to complete work at two more stations, numbered 13 and 14, before the inauguration.
The proposed launch comes after months of uncertainty over the opening of the corridor, which connects the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi with Shivajinagar, one of Pune’s key commercial and administrative centres.
The 23-km elevated corridor is being developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
