Pune : Ruby Hall to Ramwadi Metro stretch to be inaugurated next week

Pune Metro is getting ready to open the eagerly awaited line 2 from Ruby Hall to Ramwadi next week in anticipation of the election code of conduct being put into effect for the next Lok Sabha (LS) elections. Additionally, commuters are requesting that the stretch be opened immediately and without any further delay.

More than a week ago, the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety granted conditional permission to start passenger services on the Ruby Hall to Ramwadi stretch after it was finished construction. Subsequently, Pune Metro planned to have Prime Minister Narendra Modi open the 5.5 km Ruby Hall to Ramwadi stretch on February 19.

The Pune Metro then wrote to the state government requesting permission for a soft opening of the Ruby Hall to Ramwadi stretch with a formal dedication ceremony to be held later for the public after the PM’s visit was postponed. But nothing took place. The Pune Metro then anticipated that the PM would inaugurate the stretch virtually on February 25, but that did not happen either. The Pune Metro has now planned to open the stretch next week, either on March 6, anticipating the implementation of the election code of conduct.

The Pune Metro is run by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited, also known as Maha-Metro. A senior Pune Metro official said that they have made all preparations for the inauguration of the Ruby Hall to Ramwadi stretch next week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will conduct it via video conference. The date has not been finalized, but it’s more or less decided that the inauguration will take place next week.

The 9.7 km route from Vanaz to Ruby Hall is covered by the expanded metro service, which was first introduced on August 1 of last year and has since been extended. The extended route from Ruby Hall to Ramwadi has not yet seen service start, though. There are four stations along this 5.5 km stretch: Bund Garden, Yerawada, Kalyani Nagar, and Ramwadi. October 2023 saw the completion of this stretch’s first trial run. The 15.7 km Vanaz to Ramwadi route will be completed by Pune Metro once the Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi stretch begins service.

There won’t be a stop at Yerawada station when passenger operations on line 2’s Ruby Hall to Ramwadi segment start. The reason for this is that although one entry-exit point near the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Yerawada Kalas Dhanori ward office is operational, the other entry-exit point is still under construction. This is because the Pune Metro halted work at Yerawada station in November of last year due to complaints from the local community that the staircase was causing traffic jams on Ahmednagar Road. Work only started up again last week. The same will take close to a month to finish.

The senior Metro official further said that they had made the decision to close Yerawada station to travelers traveling the Ruby Hall to Ramwadi route. They will open following the completion of Yerawada station’s second entry-exit point.

The Ruby Hall to Ramwadi metro station stretch has four metro stations in total. On Ahmednagar Road, Yerawada metro station is situated after Bund Garden station.