PMPML to start shuttle bus service at Pune metro stations next week

Officials of the PMPML and Maha Metro have already carried out a survey of possible and feasible routes for the shuttle service

PUNE: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi having inaugurated two routes of the Pune metro on Sunday – one in Pune city, and the other in Pimpri-Chinchwad – the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) is gearing up to start a shuttle service to connect passengers from the metro stations along these routes.

Shuttle services will probably begin next week along two routes for the Pune city metro and along four routes for the Pimpri-Chinchwad metro. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Officials of the PMPML and Maha Metro have already carried out a survey of possible and feasible routes for the shuttle service. Accordingly, shuttle services will probably begin next week along two routes for the Pune city metro and along four routes for the Pimpri-Chinchwad metro.

Dattatray Zende, PMPML traffic manager, said, “We have carried out a joint survey along with metro officials and they have given us the routes for the shuttle service to be started for passengers once they step out from the metro stations. Accordingly, we are working on the feasibility of these routes in terms of how much is the road width, bus stops along that route, and till where the shuttle services will operate. Accordingly, we are starting the shuttle bus service at two metro stations in Pune namely, Garware College and Anandnagar. The routes are around 8 to 10km as per passenger demands and our survey.”

“For the Pimpri-Chinchwad metro, we are going to start the shuttle service for all four metro stations on the PCMC to Phugewadi route. Our buses will start from these stations and go on to internal routes from these stations and if everything goes as per plans, from next week we will start the shuttle service,” Zende said.

Passengers are happy to get connectivity ahead from the metro stations. Santosh Bhosale, a regular commuter, said, “It will be easier for us to step out of the metro station and board a bus to go further ahead. I stay in the Vanaz area and once I get out of Anand nagar metro station, getting a bus outside the station will be convenient.”

On Sunday, March 6, a 12km stretch of Pune metro comprising a 5km stretch from Vanaz (Anand nagar) to Garware College and a 7km one from Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) to Phugewadi was inaugurated. The Pune metro project began in December 2016 at a projected total cost of Rs11,400 crore. The total length of the two corridors of the metro is 33.2 km with 30 metro stations. Of the 33.2km metro stretch, 27.2km is elevated while 6km is underground.