Pune opens Line 3, first PPP metro under India’s 2017 metro policy

Pune opens Line 3, first PPP metro under India’s 2017 metro policy Pune Metro Line 3, a 23.2-km corridor linking the Hinjawadi IT hub with Shivajinagar, was inaugurated on November 3 as the first PPP metro under India’s 2017 New Metro Rail Policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the line by video conference and, at the same event, laid the foundation stone for Phase II of the Pune Metro. In his address at the ceremony, he pointed out that the government and the private sector had built the new line together under a public-private partnership model. The Prime Minister’s Office valued the two projects at around ₹21,800 crore. The Pink Line, as Line 3 is also called, runs from Maan to the District Court Metro station and connects with the existing Pune Metro network. The Prime Minister’s Office put its cost at over ₹8,300 crore. Siemens Limited, one of the system suppliers, said commercial passenger operations began after the inauguration. How the Line 3 concession is structured The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) describes Line 3 as the first project carried out on a PPP basis under the central government’s New Metro Rail Policy of 2017. It follows a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) model. PMRDA awarded the project to a joint venture of TRIL Urban Transport, a Tata Group company, and Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, which formed the special purpose vehicle Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited. The authority puts the cost at ₹8,313 crore, land acquisition and utility shifting included, for a 23.203-km route with 23 stations in its full design. The concession runs for 35 years. Pune IT City Metro Rail has given the operation of the line to Keolis under a 10-year contract that also covers upkeep of the 22 trains, the 23 stations and the ticketing system. Keolis has noted that Pune’s first two metro lines were built and are run by a government body. Trains, power supply and signaling on the Pink Line The fleet consists of 22 three-car Alstom Metropolis trainsets, each able to carry 1,000 passengers. PMRDA awarded the rolling stock and electrical and mechanical works in 2021 to a joint venture of Alstom India, TRIL Urban Transport and Siemens Project Ventures. Alstom delivered the first of these trains from its Sri City plant in Andhra Pradesh in 2024. Siemens Limited said it provided systems integration, 750 V DC third-rail electrification, communications-based train control (CBTC), integrated communications and depot equipment. It will also maintain the electrification and signaling systems for 10 years. The company expects travel time between Hinjawadi and Shivajinagar to drop by around 50% once the line is fully operational. The Prime Minister’s Office said the line will be run entirely by women train operators and that about 30% of its electricity needs are planned to come from solar power. Keolis had earlier planned to recruit and train around 100 female train pilots for the line. Phase II adds Lines 2A, 2B, 4 and 4A The Phase II works launched at the same ceremony are estimated at around ₹13,500 crore. Lines 2A, from Vanaz to Chandani Chowk, and 2B, from Ramwadi to Vitthalwadi, will extend the existing east-west line by about 12.75 km combined. Line 4 will cover around 25.52 km between Kharadi and Khadakwasla, and Line 4A will run 6.12 km from Nal Stop to Manik Baug. Interchanges at Swargate, Nal Stop and Kharadi Bypass are planned to tie the new corridors into the current metro network and intercity bus services. Answer: by the Prime Minister’s count, India’s metro route length has grown almost fivefold since 2014 and Maharashtra’s more than fifteenfold (editorial calculation: 1,200 ÷ 248 and 175 ÷ 11, rounded down). Figures are government statements from the Prime Minister’s address of November 3, 2026 (official English rendering of a speech delivered in Hindi and Marathi). They were not given with a breakdown by city or line and are not an independent count.