After backlash, bicycles get Pink Line Metro green signal

Pune: Metro Pink Line operator’s flip-flop on bicycles in carriages — ban on Thursday morning and rollback in the evening after social media backlash — marked the second day’s operations on the new corridor.Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited (PITCMRL), the operator of the new route, finally announced that passengers would be allowed to carry bicycles on trains. It cited the commuters’ demand, need to promote sustainable mobility and the last-mile connectivity as reasons.Puneri Metro had posted an advisory in the morning that bicycles were not allowed inside its coaches. It appealed to commuters to follow the restriction to ensure safe and smooth travel. Commuters immediately questioned the ban because Maha Metro allowed cycles on both its lines from 2022.Mitul Jhaveri, the chief financial officer of Pink Line, said the initial decision was based on an assessment of the likely demand and operational considerations. “We studied the likely demand and felt that possibly around 10 commuters would carry bicycles. So, initially, we wanted to focus on mass commuters and their convenience. After further evaluation, we allowed passengers to carry bicycles as their numbers will be small,” he told TOI late in the evening.Regular cyclist Amin Sheikh said Puneri Metro should not have imposed the restriction in the first place. “When Maha Metro had allowed cycles, there was no reason to disallow it on the Pink Line. Many cyclists may want to carry their bicycles after training at Balewadi Sports Complex,” he said.Commuters said cycles would help passengers on the 23.2km Maan-Civil Court corridor in covering the distance between stations, homes and workplaces. They stressed bicycles would strengthen the last-mile connectivity.Maha Metro had introduced bicycle carriage as part of its multi-modal integration plan. In 2021, officials had demonstrated the facility by travelling with bicycles between Phugewadi and Sant Tukaram Nagar stations. Maha Metro’s guideline stated that “passengers can carry cycles by hand in any coach, provided they do not obstruct or inconvenience others”.50,000 passengers on first dayPink Line Metro recorded around 50,000 passengers on its first day of operations on Wednesday. Civil Court station was the busiest, accounting for nearly 25,000 passengers. Anil Kumar Saini, the CEO of Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited, said, “The response on the first day of passenger services has been overwhelming.”