Pune Metro | A Historic Moment : Metro Train Travels Below Mutha River
Pune : Pune Metro Rail Project consists of two corridors, North-South Corridor (Purple line) and East-West Corridor (Aqua line) with a total length of 33.2 KM and 30 stations. The length of the elevated section is 27.2 KM and the length of the underground section is 6 KM. Sections from PCMC to Phugewadi (7 KM) and Vanaz to Garware College (5 KM) were inaugurated on 6th March 2022. Sections from Phugewadi to Civil Court (6.91 KM, 4 Stations) and Garware to Ruby Clinic (4.75 Km, 7 Stations) were very recently inaugurated on 1st Aug 2023.
In the 17.5 km route from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) Metro Station to Swargate of Pune Metro, the 6 km route from Shivajinagar to Swargate is underground. The underground network has 5 metro stations: Shivaji Nagar, Civil Court, Budhwar Peth, Mandai, and Swargate. The tunnelling work started on 28th Sept 2020, and the 12 km (6km on one side) tunnelling was completed on 4th June 2022 with the help of the tunnel boring machine (TBM). Subsequently, tracks, overhead electric wires (OHE), and signaling work were then carried out in the metro tunnels.
Today, on 5th Feb 2024, metro train trial run was conducted in approx. 3.64 km section starting from Civil Court UG station to Swargate UG metro station. As of today, 98% of the work of Pune Metro has been completed, and work on the remaining stretch is going on in full swing. Very soon, it will be commercially operational for the citizens of Pune.
The trial run started as planned after all the tests were carried out. It commenced at 10:58 Hrs from Civil Court underground metro station with a speed of less than 10 kmph (averaging 7.5 kmph), crossed civil court metro station, then the Mutha riverbed, Budhwar Peth, Mandai, and finally reached Swargate UG metro station at 11:59 Hrs. While passing between Civil Court to Swargate it crossed beneath the Mutha river bed. Crossing the Mutha riverbed marks a historic event for Pune Metro. The depth of the Budhwar Peth metro station is approx. 30 mts below surface level and Mandai station below the surface is approximately 26 meters, whereas Swargate is 29 meters below the surface level. Civil court metro station is approximately 33 meters below the surface level, making it one of the deepest metro stations in the country. The total distance from Civil court to Swargate is 3641 meters, Civil court to Budhwar Peth is 853 meters, Budhwar peth to Mandai is 999 meters, and Mandai to Swargate is 1489 meters.
This network, Civil Court to Swargate once operational will connect the central part of Pune city to the metro network and provide a fast and safe urban transport option to the citizens. Therefore, the citizens will benefit to a large extent. It will be possible to travel from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Station to Swargate Station in the next few months. This will make it possible for the citizens of Pimpri Chinchwad to travel to the heart of Pune city. Also the places like Kasba Ganapati, Dagdushet Ganapati, Sadashiv Peth, Mandai, Swargate Bus Station, Mukundnagar, Kasab Peth, Laxmi Road, Hospital, Gadikhana, Shanipar Chowk, Bajirao Road, Tulshi Bagh etc. Citizens will be able to go to the place by metro seamlessly.
For Underground stations, ‘cut and cover’ technology is used, requiring pits (a vertical shaft) to be dug and constructed from bottom of the shaft. Shivaji Nagar, Civil Court, Budhwar Peth, Mandai, and Swargate metro stations are highly congested areas, close to historical monuments, and densely populated localities, making the construction of stations here a challenging and crucial part of the Pune metro project. Technologies like NATM were utilized to construct the Budhwar Peth metro station. Despite being in the most populated area and facing numerous challenges, there were no untoward incidents happened during the construction of these stations. Transporting goods/materials from these areas is very cumbersome. During the tunnel construction, large quantities of debris were excavated from 70 to 80 feet below the ground and disposed of properly at designated locations. Transport vehicles were restricted to operate only between 12:00 am and 5:00 am. Working under such challenging conditions, the Metro has successfully completed the underground line from Civil Court to Swargate, enabling our underground metro trial.
Three Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) namely Mutha, Mula and Pawan were used for the work of Pune Metro underground tunnelling.
On this occasion, Shravan Hardikar, Managing Director of Mahametro said, “Today’s test on the Civil Court underground station to Swargate station is a historic event for the cities of Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune. This underground route passes under the river Mutha. It will be possible to travel directly from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Station to Swargate Station in the coming months. The work on the Ruby Hall to Ramwadi section is almost completed and soon this section will be opened for operation”.
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