Swargate, Ramwadi among Metro stations with highest footfall; Commuters unhappy with facilities

Pune: A survey conducted by Maha Metro for the first time recently revealed that five stations – Swargate, PCMC, Ramwadi, Mandai and Pune Railway Station – witnessed the highest daily footfall.
The commuters, however, expressed displeasure over inadequate parking facilities and lack of last-mile connectivity at these stations.
The PCMC station witnessed over 18,000 commuters daily, while Swargate saw 15,000 people. Ramwadi, Mandai and Pune Railway Station facilitated the boarding of around 13,000 commuters daily each.
It is Maha Metro's first survey six months after both Metro routes started at their full capacity. Regular commuters said despite being originating stations, Swargate, PCMC, and Ramwadi still lacked dedicated parking lots, leading commuters to park their vehicles on footpaths.
Ashutosh Kale, a regular Metro commuter between Pimpri and Pune, said, "PCMC has been a big station, but the parking lot was only on one side. The facility should be available at both ends. The authorities should implement more commuter-friendly initiatives at the station since it records the highest footfall."
At Mandai station, travellers were being overcharged by autorickshaw drivers because share-a-auto services were not functional. At Pune station, the chaos has continued, especially at the main entry point of the railway station.
According to Jitendra Salanki, a traveller from Swargate and Mandai stations, the autorickshaw drivers have been overcharging. "Auto drivers have been demanding more money from commuters, and there was no monitoring," he said.
Officials from Maha Metro, on the other hand, said, last-mile connectivity at some stations, such as Ramwadi and Swargate, has improved in the last six months. They said, more options were being explored for easy access to the stations. A parking lot has been set up near PCMC station, the officials said. The commuters, however, oppose this and said a significant number of bikes occupy the footpaths and autorickshaws halt along the footpath illegally.
A huge stretch of footpath was occupied by bikes at Ramwadi metro station despite the authorities putting up ‘no parking' boards. Jay Shetti, an IT employee, suggested that the authorities may set up a multi-parking facility near the metro station in association with private companies from the Nagar Road area. This would eliminate haphazard parking of vehicles on footpaths and the main road.
Officials from Maha Metro said parking lots have been developed at metro stations like Shivajinagar, Civil Court, PCMC and Pune station. Maha Metro was working with PMC to develop similar facilities at more stations, they said, adding that PMPML bus routes have been redesigned at Swargate, PCMC and Ramwadi to suit the metro services.
FIRST SURVEY IN SIX MONTHS
Daily footfall at all stations: around 1.5 lakh
Highest footfall:
PCMC: 18,000
Swargate: 15,000
Ramwadi, Pune station, Mandai: Over 13,000
Total operational stations: 29
Khadki station to be functional soon
Safety inspections at Khadki station are likely to be held next month. After clearance from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS), the Khadki station will be opened for commuters.