Pune: Growing footfall encourages MahaMetro to mull increasing frequency of trains between Garware College and Vanaz

MahaMetro spokesperson Hemant Sonawane said the Metro has completed one week of run after its flag off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “During this period, 2.27 lakh commuters have travelled on both the stretches,” he said. MahaMetro has earned a revenue of over Rs 32 lakh during this period.

However, MahaMetro said trains are still not filled to the capacity on both the stretches. “The only noticeable change is that the numbers are growing during the evening hours and therefore, we are considering whether we should increase the frequency of the trains from the current half an hour to every 15 minutes,” Sonawane said.

Metro officials said they are closely monitoring the numbers to make changes in the timings of the services. “The numbers during the morning hours have not shown much increase. The maximum daily numbers stand around 10,000 to 12,000 but on the Pimpri-Phugewadi stretch, we had 27,000 commuters on one particular day. On this stretch, the numbers continue to be beyond 20,000 each day,” Sonawane said.

Metro officials said although the stretches are small, the numbers are not that bad. “These are initial days. We don’t know whether the current numbers will sustain for long as it is seen that a huge crowd is turning up just for a joy ride, just to get a feel of the Metro. After this wears off, we will come to know the regular intake. For us, it is necessary to get a high intake, otherwise the Metro will incur losses,” Sonawane said.

Currently, the Metro service is available for commuters from 8 am to 9 pm. “As more commuters start using the Metro, we will change this time as well. We plan to start the services at 7 am. Similarly, the evening timing will also be extended. As it is, we have extended the evening timing for Sundays and on holidays when the trains run till 10 pm,” he said.

Officials are banking heavily on the opening up of the service till Shivajinagar. “This is expected to happen by June. Once the Metro reaches up to Shivajinagar, we expect a big jump in its popularity,” said Atul Gadgil, director of MahaMetro.

Sonawane said Shivajinagar is the hub of Pune city where big educational institutes, markets, popular restaurants, hospitals and the PMC headquarters are located. “Most of the crowd from different parts of Pune turn up practically every day in the Shivajinagar area where we are going to have two stations. Not only Pimpri-Chinchwad, even those from Talegaon, Lonavala, Chakan, Manchar come to Pune city every day. If these citizens travel by road, they get stuck in traffic snarls. For them, the Metro up to Shivajinagar will not only reduce their headache but also help them reach quicker, in barely 15-20 minutes,” he said.

Metro officials also said that those travelling from Pune city, Swargate, Katraj and beyond to the Pimpri-Chinchwad-Bhosari industrial area will benefit a lot. Concurs Abhay Bhor, president of Pimpri-Chinchwad Small Scale Industries Association, said, “Over four lakh people work in Pimpri-Chinchwad-Bhosari and Chakan industrial areas. Most of them come from Pune city and beyond. They can take the Metro from Shivajinagar, get down at Nashik Phata from where it is less than a 10 minutes ride to the MIDC area. I am sure even two-wheelers riders will prefer Metro bigtime.”