Modi Inaugurates 23 km Pune Metro Line 3 Connecting Hinjewadi IT Hub

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 23.3 km Pune Metro Line 3, known as the Pink Line, via video link on November 3, 2026. Commercial passenger services began at 6 a.m. on November 4. The elevated line runs from Maan in the Hinjewadi information technology area to the District Court station at Shivajinagar in central Pune.

The project, built at a cost of Rs 8,313 crore including land acquisition and utility relocation, was developed under a public-private partnership by a joint venture of Tata and Siemens. It includes 23 stations. Seventeen stations opened to the public on the first day of operations. At seven of those stations, passengers initially have access to only one staircase.

Alstom supplied 22 three-car Metropolis trainsets built at its Sri City plant. Each train carries up to 1,000 passengers, with a design speed of 95 km/h and an operating speed of 85 km/h. Siemens Mobility provided the railway systems under a Rs 9 billion turnkey contract signed in 2022. Keolis holds a 10-year operating contract. Nearly 100 drivers have been recruited, all of them women, a first for an Indian metro line.

End-to-end journey time is 45 minutes. Peak-hour frequency is every 5.5 minutes, with off-peak services every 10 minutes. The line is intended to cut travel times roughly in half for IT workers commuting between Hinjewadi and the city center, where road congestion has long been a daily complaint.

Modi described metro projects executed under public-private partnerships as a development model that supports broader infrastructure progress. He also noted reductions in extreme poverty and expansion of urban transport over the previous 12 years during the same set of remarks. Foundation stones were laid the same day for four additional metro corridors in Pune.

The Pink Line connects the western IT corridor, home to major technology campuses, with the central business and judicial district. Integration with existing Pune Metro lines at Shivajinagar is expected to allow through journeys once remaining sections open. Full station access and remaining staircases will be completed in subsequent phases.

Passenger operations on November 4 marked the first revenue service on the new alignment. Early ridership figures have not yet been released. The all-women driving contingent completed training before the inauguration. Maintenance and signaling systems are under the responsibility of the Tata-Siemens joint venture during the concession period.

The opening adds a major east-west link to Pune’s growing metro network. Further corridors announced the same day will expand coverage once construction begins. Travel-time savings for Hinjewadi commuters will become measurable once regular operations stabilize over the coming weeks.