Pune: Work on the Mahametro project is slowly restarting due to the lockdown. The concerned tenders have been asked to design a smart I-card for metro tickets that can be utlitised for multipurpose traveling within the city.

Metro Smart I will be distributing cards for Metro tickets. The work has been awarded to a bank through a tender. Inside the Metro, swiping this card on the machine will deduct the ticket price.

The same card can now be used for paying the tariff rickshaws or any other passenger vehicle coming to the metro. The metro will use a special type of electric vehicle to facilitate access to the nearest metro station from different parts of the city. This smart I card will be useful for those vehicles, local rickshaws, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML), other public transports and vehicles.

Passengers will not have to carry cash for tickets and even if anyone forgets to carry money, he/she need not worry as the payment can be done through the smart card.

According to the Mahometro officials, instructions have been given to the bank which has taken up the task of making the Smart I card.

"Metro will implement many such state-of-the-art facilities in Pune. Due to Corona, the construction of Metro routes has slowed down. This smart I-card facility will be put to real use once the metro stations are started," said Dr. Ramnath Subramanyam Director, Mahametro, Pune.