Pune Metro: First Underground Metro Station To Be Ready Soon

Pune's first underground metro station at Shivajinagar will be completed in November, and will be operational as soon as it receives approval from the railway safety department.

Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro), a joint special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the Government of India (GoI) and the Government of Maharashtra (GoM), is the executing agency of the Pune Metro rail project.

The total cost of the Pune Metro project is over Rs 11,400 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project on 24 December 2016.

“Around 85 per cent of the underground metro station at Shivajinagar is complete and will be ready by the next month. However, it will be operational only after clearance of Railway safety,” said Brijesh Dixit, managing director of Maha-Metro, which is implementing the Pune Metro rail, reports Indian Express.

The Pune Metro rail is developing a total of 30 km of rail route from Vanaz to Ramwadi and Pimpri Chinchwad to Swargate in Phase I.

The route from Vanaz to Ramwadi is elevated, while the route from Pimpri Chinchwad to Rangehill is elevated and underground from Shivajinagar to Swargate.

Pune’s public transport share is 12 per cent and it has the highest two-wheeler population in the country. The daily metro ridership of Pune is expected to increase gradually to six lakh per day.

Since March, operations have been partially underway on both routes — Vanaz to Garware College and Pimpri Chinchwad to Phugewadi.

By the end of December, the Pune Metro intends to expand its service from Phugewadi and Garware College to the civil court. Both routes cross at the civil court, which serves as an interchange station.

The Shivajinagar Metro Station is a multimodal integration that provides easy access to the Shivajinagar Railway Station, PMPML and MSRTC bus depots. It will be linked to the Hinjewadi Metro Station and the civil court route.

Pune Metro’s Unique Features

Lightest Metro: Pune Metro coaches are made with aluminum body which has the advantage of being 6.5 per cent lighter than the conventional stainless-steel coaches.

These coaches will have longer life and require low maintenance and are more energy efficient.

Made In India: Pune Metro coaches are indigenously manufactured under 'Make in India' policy of the Union government. Indigenous components of the coaches are over 70 per cent.

Through international competitive bidding, Maha Metro awarded the contract for supply of 102 modern aluminum bodied metro coaches for Pune Metro project to M/s Titagarh Firema, an Italian subsidiary of M/s Titagarh, a Kolkata-based Indian company in the field of railway coaches and wagons.

Integration Of Rooftop, Grid Connected Solar Energy: Pune Metro has made provision for installation of 11.19 MWp solar power generation on the rooftop of the elevated stations and depots right from the inception.

The energy generated will be used in stations and in traction power for running of trains. This will result in energy cost savings of Rs 20 crore per annum and around 25,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be prevented.

‘Ek Pune’ Card: Maha Metro has designed an open loop chip based contactless smart card in compliance with the national common mobility card mandate of the Union government. This card can be used for metro, buses, feeders, parking, utility and also for other retail payments.

Space Saving Underground Stations: The underground section of Pune Metro is passing through the most congested location in the city. The space availability in these areas is so limited that the conventional ‘cut and cover method’ of building underground stations was not possible.

To overcome this, Maha Metro decided to use the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).

Two metro stations — Mandai and Budhwar Peth have been designed using this technology due to scarcity of space for construction. Also, due to the use of NATM, resettlement and rehabilitation of about 200 residents was avoided.

Zero Effluent Discharge: Maha Metro has signed an MoU with DRDO for installation of anaerobic biodigester technology for 100 per cent wastewater management.

This technology will result in zero discharge into the municipal sewerage system for all stations of Pune Metro.

‘No Tree Cutting’ Policy: Pune Metro has transplanted 2,267 trees falling on alignment by innovative root ball technology. Three trees are planted for every transplant undertaken and ten trees are planted for every failed transplant.

Maha Metro has also planted 17,986 new trees to make the city greener.