Pune Metro Faces Ridership Challenge Despite New Routes And Budget Boost; Calls For Better Connectivity

Pune, 3rd April 2025: The Pune Metro was introduced with the goal of alleviating traffic congestion and ensuring faster commuting within the city. While recent budget allocations have provided significant funding for expansion and new routes, the expected surge in passenger numbers has yet to materialize.

With the completion of its first phase, the Pune Metro now operates across a total of 33 kilometers. However, ridership has not increased at the anticipated rate. Following the opening of key stations like Mandai and Swargate, the daily passenger count was expected to exceed two lakh, but current data indicates an average of only 1.6 lakh commuters per day. This has highlighted the need for improved connectivity to metro stations to attract more passengers.

Currently, the metro records an average daily ridership of 1.44 lakh commuters. The Pimpri-Chinchwad to Swargate route sees approximately 63,000 daily passengers, while the Vanaz to Ramwadi route has a higher footfall, with around 82,000 commuters per day. The disparity in ridership between these routes suggests a need for targeted efforts to boost passenger numbers, particularly on the Swargate-Pimpri Chinchwad corridor.

Ridership and Revenue Over Four Months

– December 2024: 46.94 lakh passengers, ₹7.38 crore revenue
– January 2025: 49.64 lakh passengers, ₹7.87 crore revenue
– February 2025: 43.07 lakh passengers, ₹6.73 crore revenue
– March 2025: 44.81 lakh passengers, ₹7.01 crore revenue

Despite fluctuations in ridership, revenue generation remains relatively stable. To further increase metro usage, authorities may need to introduce last-mile connectivity solutions and awareness campaigns to encourage more commuters to opt for metro travel over conventional road transport.