When Will Pune Metro Pink Line (Hinjawadi – Shivajinagar) Start?
- November 3, 2026 (expected).
- November 16, 2026 (probable).
For thousands of IT professionals who spend hours in Hinjawadi’s traffic every day, November 3 could finally bring a seat on a train. Passenger services on the Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar Metro Line 3 (Pink Line) are set to begin that day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to flag off the line virtually, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will attend in person.
An official announcement is expected once the model code of conduct for the Legislative Council elections is lifted.
The Pink Line at a Glance
Line 3 is a fully elevated corridor of about 23.3 km. It runs from Maan in the Hinjawadi IT park area to the District Court in Shivajinagar, via Wakad, Balewadi, and Baner.
It has 23 stations and connects to the existing Purple and Aqua lines at Shivajinagar and District Court. The line will use Alstom Metropolis trains on 750V DC third-rail power, with CBTC signalling.
ALSO READ: Where Is Pune doing During Diwali Pahat?
Seventeen stations have received safety clearance from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS).
Inspections at two more stations near Balewadi are complete, but RBI, Simla Chowk, Mahabaleshwar Chowk and Baner are still waiting for approval.
Reports differ on exactly which stations will stay shut at launch. One list names six, including Laxmi Nagar, Balewadi Phata and Shivajinagar. Even so, end-to-end service between Maan and the District Court is expected to run.
Who Built It, and How Much It Cost?
The project is led by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).It is the first project in the country to be delivered as a public-private partnership under the Centre’s 2017 Metro Rail Policy, on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer model.
The contract went to a joint venture of Tata Realty’s TRIL Urban Transport and Siemens Project Ventures. They set up a special-purpose company, Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited, to carry out the work. It runs under a 35-year concession from PMRDA.
ALSO READ: Diwali Pahat and Classical Music Live Events You Shouldn’t Miss
The total cost is ₹8,313 crore, including land acquisition and utility shifting. Of that, the private partner contributes ₹1,315.39 crore as equity and a ₹4,789 crore loan is being raised from banks. Viability gap funding of ₹1,315.39 crore comes from the Centre (₹1,224.80 crore) and the state (₹90.58 crore).
17 Stations Expected to Open on November 3, 2026
Stations :
1. Maan
2. Maan – MIDC Circle, Phase II
3. Maan Bus Depot
4. Hinjewadi Phase II – Circle II
5. Hinjewadi Phase II – Circle I
6. Padmabhushan Chowk
7. Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk
8. Hinjewadi Phase I
9. Wakad Chowk
10. Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mahalunge
11. MITCON, Balewadi
12. R. K. Laxman Museum, Balewadi
13. Aundh
14. Sakal Nagar
15. Savitribai Phule Pune University
16. Agriculture College
17. District Court, Pune
As of October 29, 2026, recent reporting indicates that the planned November 3 launch is expected to cover 17 stations, subject to the final operational announcement.
The distinction is important: safety clearance does not automatically mean a station will open to passengers on launch day.
* Total stations on the corridor: 23
* Stations reported to have received safety clearance: 17
* Expected launch date: November 3, 2026
* Route: Maan to District Court, Shivajinagar
An All-Women Workforce for Pink Line
Beyond its promise to ease Hinjawadi’s notorious traffic, Metro Line 3 has another distinction: an all-women operational team.
From managing train operations to handling passenger services, women are taking charge of key responsibilities, marking a notable step toward greater gender representation in public transport.
For a city with a large IT workforce, this initiative adds another dimension to the project’s significance. As thousands of commuters prepare to swap traffic jams for train journeys, Line 3 could also become a symbol of women’s growing role in running the city’s transport infrastructure.
A Long Road to Opening Day
The journey began in 2018. The contract was awarded to Tata Realty–Siemens that October, and the concession agreement was signed in September 2019, with construction planned to begin in March 2020. The line was meant to be ready by March 2025.
Delays in permissions for barricading, utility shifting and pending construction work pushed that to September 2025, then March 2026. Labour shortages and material-supply problems added to the slippage.
By May 2026 the project had missed six deadlines. Officials then said it was 95.2% ready. Plans changed to a phased opening, and the 12-station Maan–Balewadi stretch received provisional CMRS clearance on July 23, 2026.
Five more stations toward central Pune were cleared on September 23, taking the total to 17. The Prime Minister’s postponed Pune visit left the date uncertain again in late October, before the November 3 plan emerged.
What It Means for Traffic?
For Hinjawadi’s workforce, the delay has been costly. Hinjawadi is one of Pune’s largest employment centres, and its roads see heavy peak-hour congestion.
Commuters have blamed bottlenecks, narrow underpasses, and pothole-ridden roads. An online petition on Hinjawadi traffic gathered 39,000 signatures in 40 days.
Anita Jangid, who travels from Baner to Hinjawadi Phase 3, said she bought a car after waiting eight to nine months for the metro.
“If the Metro had started, I would have happily used public transport instead,” she said. Authorities have also approved a ₹426-crore plan for roads, traffic management and last-mile connectivity in Hinjawadi.
The Final Thought
A metro is only as good as the commute it replaces. Line 3 has taken over six years from its planned construction start, and the people it serves have watched every missed deadline from a traffic jam.
If trains run on time, with stations that connect to buses and last-mile options, November 3 November 16 could be the day Hinjawadi’s commuters get back some of their time.
Campus Times Pune is an initiative taken by some enthusiastic students of Pune to entertain the “Netizens” by providing cool and trending content online. Articles from contributors who prefer keeping their identity anonymous, are published under our authorship. You can contact us with your articles by sending them to “911@campustimespune.com”
