PUNE: Commuters may be able to ride the Metro closer to the airport by the end of the year, as the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) has said the stretch from Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi station will be ready for operational use by next month.
The Maha Metro has started speed trials of rakes till Ramwadi, for which technical teams are checking the alignment of tracks, curves, elevation and other technical parameters, such as signalling and telecommunication.
The Metro’s run till Ramwadi will enable commuters from the city’s central areas to reach Nagar Road more easily. Four new stations are coming up on the route, including at Bund Garden, Yerawada, Kalyaninagar and Ramwadi.
The Maha Metro officials said that they were yet to finalize the schedule of safety inspections by the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS).
“We are at an advanced stage of work to keep the stretch ready and don’t see any delays in completion till December. All four stations on the route are still not fully ready, but Maha Metro will provide at least one entry-exit point to all stations for commuters,” an official of Maha Metro said.
Regular commuters on the route, however, have asserted that the authorities need to work on last-mile connectivity, especially in Yerawada and Ramwadi — both stations are on the airport route.
Ketan Karmarkar, who works in an IT company on Airport Road in Yerawada, said it is still difficult to get an autorickshaw or feeder bus from the metro station location. “The authorities still have a couple of months to make adequate arrangements for feeder services,” he said.
Another official from Maha Metro assured that their teams are working on improving feeder services along with Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML). “There is a plan to provide buses from Ramwadi station to the airport and to set up pick-up and drop-off points for cab aggregators,” he said.
