In a first for India’s urban transport sector, Pune Metro Line 3 (Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar), virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, will have an all-women team of train operators, with women making up 100 per cent of the driving workforce. Around 90 women will operate the trains, while women will account for 50 per cent of the administrative and station workforce.

The 23.20-km corridor, built at a cost of Rs 8313 crore, is India’s first metro project developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis. Tata Projects and Siemens executed the project with support from the Centre and the Maharashtra government.