Introduction of Pune Metro brought much respite for the residents, particularly office employees across the city by significantly reduced travel time. As the new metro routes’ work is in progress, some to be inaugurated by the end of 2025, the ongoing routes are seen overcrowded mostly during peak hours. So residents are demanding that the number of coaches and the frequency as well be increased to address the issue.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ninaad Pai has mentioned, “Tried using the Pune Metro for my work commute. Peak hours = absolute chaos. Trains jammed to the brim, people still forcing their way in. High taxpayers trying to keep civic sense, lost in a crowd that doesn’t care. Even exiting took 5 mins. My once beautiful city feels broken.”
With the rising traffic congestion and reduced travel speed in Pune many commuters from students to officer-goers have swapped their travel mode from cars, city buses, bikes, and autorickshaws to metro. But their travel experience has become tiring and inconvenient with the rising footfall.
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, K Shantanu, an engineering student said, “I used to travel by bus from Nigdi to Kothrud, which used to take more than 1.5 hours due to heavy traffic in peak hours. But as the metro was introduced I immediately switched to it because it was very much comfortable and took around 45 mins.”
“However, the rise in footfall and overcrowding has made it cumbersome, students carry heavy college bags, ladies and many elderly also travel. So it becomes very inconvenient to travel so long standing both in the morning as well as evening,” he added.
The ridership of Pune Metro has been rising in lakhs per month. From 52.41 lakh in June, it has increased over seven lakhs to around 59.5 lakh in July.
“To equip the rising footfall the MahaMetro authorities must increase the number of trainsets along with a rise in frequency and added coaches,” said Harshad Bansode, a resident of Yamunanagar.
Replying to Pai’s post on X, susegadtraveler, a X user commented, “I heard that the extra train sets for Pune metro were diverted to Patna!”
