MahaMetro to ensure Bhosari station shapes into commuter-friendly hub

PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation would ensure that the Bhosari Metro station at Nashik Phata Chowk becomes a commuter-friendly hub.

It will be the first multimodal transport hub in Pimpri Chinchwad — commuters can choose from different public transport options, like Metro, two bus rapid transit system (BRTS) routes, trains and state transport buses.

Nashik Phata chowk also serves as a junction two BRTS routes — Pune-Mumbai highway and Nashik Phata-Wakad. Also, vehicles pass through this chowk on their way to Nashik over the Pune-Nashik highway, thanks to which, there is a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus stop here. “Further, the Kasarwadi railway station on the Pune-Mumbai railway route is nearby. The Pimpri-Swargate Metro route is aligned along the Pune-Mumbai highway — from Empire Estate flyover in Chinchwad to Khadki,” Gautam Birhade, the chief project manager of the Range Hills-Pimpri section, explained.

According to Birhade, a double-decker flyover at the Nashik Phata chowk will force the Metro to turn right after Vallabhnagar. “The Metro will proceed along the service road to cross the first tier of the flyover and then turn left and back over the median of the grade separator near Forbes Marshal in Kasarwadi,” he said.

“The Bhosari station will come up near the Nashik Phata BRTS station. There will be two entry and exit points to the station on each side of the highway; one of these will be built on the platform of the Kasarwadi railway station. This will help railway passengers alight at the station and proceed to the Metro station,” he said.

Further, a foot overbridge will connect the Metro station to the ST bus stop at Nashik Phata chowk. Another FOB will link the Metro station to the other BRTS station on Wakad-Nashik Phata BRTS route. “So, commuters can use any one of four modes of public transport at this point,” Birhade said.

Birhade said MahaMetro will construct transport hubs at Swargate and Civil Court, but there is no railway station nearby. “The Metro pillars at the Nashik Phata chowk are 21m tall as the Metro will jump over the flyover’s first tier. These are the tallest pillars on the Pimpri-Swargate route,” he said.

All has not been smooth sailing, though — the authorities have faced a problem while laying foundations at the chowk. “There is hard rock at a 9m depth, so we had to do micro piling and then piling to lay the foundation for the pillar,” Birhade said.