Officials said if the service continues to receive a good response in the coming days, commuters of the Pune Metro can expect to get a train every 15 minutes instead of the current 30 minutes.
Officials said that MahaMetro is planning to increase the frequency of trains on the Garware College to Vanaj route, which will reduce the waiting time by 30 minutes. He said that from June when the metro reaches Shivajinagar, trains will be available in just five minutes.
Pune Metro was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 6th March Narendra Modi And its two halves have seen over 2.5 lakh commuters.
Mahametro said that trains on both the stretches are still not filled to the capacity. “The only noticeable change is the increasing number of commuters during the evening hours on the Garware College to Vanaz section. Mahametro spokesperson Hemant Sonawane said, “We are considering whether we should increase the frequency of trains to 15 minutes every half hour from the present.”
Metro officials said they are closely monitoring the numbers before they affect any changes in Metro Rail timings. “During the morning hours, from Garware College to Vanaaz, there is not much increase in numbers. The maximum daily number is around 10-12,000. But on the Pimpri-Fugewadi section, we had 27,000 passengers on a particular day. On this stretch, the number is over 20,000 per day,” Sonawane said.
“We do not know whether the current numbers will be sustained for long or not, as it is seen that a huge crowd is coming to experience the Metro, just for the ride of pleasure. After this the pleasure ends, we will know the regular intake. For us, it is necessary to consume more, otherwise Metro will suffer,” Sonawane said.
At present, Metro service is available for commuters from 8 am to 9 pm. “As more commuters use metro rail, we will change this time as well. We plan to start the service at 7 am. Similarly, the evening time will also be extended. Anyway, we have extended the evening timings till 10 pm for Sundays and holidays.
MahaMetro officials are banking heavily on the inauguration of the service till Shivajinagar. “It is expected to happen by June. Once the Metro reaches Shivajinagar, we expect a big jump in its popularity,” said Atul Gadgil, Director, MahaMetro.
Sonawane said that Shivajinagar is the center of Pune city where major educational institutions, markets, popular restaurants, hospitals and PMC headquarters are located. “Most of the crowd from different parts of Pune comes to Shivajinagar area practically daily where we are going to have two stations. Not only Pimpri-Chinchwad, people from Talegaon, Lonavala, Chakan and Manchar also come to Pune city every day. If these citizens travel by road, they get stuck in traffic jams. For them, the Metro till Shivajinagar will not only ease the headache of their traffic jams but will also help them reach their destination in hardly 15-20 minutes.
Metro officials said those traveling to the Pimpri-Chinchwad-Bhosari industrial area of Pune city, Swargate, Katraj and beyond will also benefit greatly from this service. Supporting this, Abhay Bhor, president of Pimpri-Chinchwad Small Scale Industries Association, said, “Pimpri-Chinchwad-Bhosari and even Chakan industrial area employs more than four lakh people. Most of them come from Pune city and beyond. They can catch the metro from Shivajinagar, get down at Nashik Phata, from where it is less than 10 minutes ride to MIDC area.