Pune Metro the Most Popular Mode of Transport During Ganeshotsav 2025
Pune, 1st September 2025: The festive spirit of Ganeshotsav is in full swing across Pune, especially in the Peth areas, where large numbers of devotees are arriving daily for Ganesh darshan. This year, the Pune Metro has become a preferred travel option for thousands, offering an eco-friendly and convenient alternative to road travel that is often slowed down by heavy traffic.
To manage the rush, Pune Metro has announced special facilities for passengers. From Saturday, 30th August to Friday, 5th September, metro services will run till 2 am, allowing devotees to travel late into the night. The frequency of trains has also been increased. While trains usually operate every six minutes, during Ganeshotsav the gap has been reduced to three minutes. On Sunday, 554 runs were initially scheduled, but additional trips were added to handle the surge in demand.
Chandrashekhar Tambavekar, Additional Director General (Public Relations and Administration), Metro Pune, advised passengers to avoid overcrowding at one station. “Passengers should use Kasba Peth and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) metro stations while arriving. For return journeys, Mandai station can be used. This helps to distribute the crowd and ensures smooth travel for everyone,” he said.
The advice comes as Mandai station, located close to popular Ganesh mandals, has seen very heavy footfall. On Sunday alone, Mandai station recorded 44,791 passengers. Pimpri station followed with 33,768, while Swargate handled 24,841 passengers. By 10 pm that day, a total of 2,84,284 commuters had travelled across both metro lines.
The opening of Kasba Peth and Mandai stations this year has made access to the central Peth areas easier, further boosting passenger numbers. On Saturday, 30th August, Pune Metro carried around 3.48 lakh passengers, earning ₹46.83 lakh in revenue. Normally, the metro accommodates a little over 2 lakh passengers daily, but the festive weekend brought a sharp rise.
Officials said the increased usage reflects how the metro has become a reliable travel option during large public events. With extended timings, higher frequency, and crowd management measures, the metro has been able to ease the stress of city traffic while giving devotees a safe and comfortable journey.
For those heading to popular mandals in Shaniwar Peth, Kasba, and nearby areas, the metro administration strongly recommends alighting at PMC or Kasba Peth stations instead of Mandai for onward journeys, and using Mandai station mainly while returning.
With lakhs of Punekars relying on the metro this festive season, authorities have urged commuters to follow metro rules and cooperate with staff to ensure smooth operations.
