India, May 3 -- The trial run on an 11-km stretch of the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar metro line under the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) project is set to begin in September.

According to officials, land acquisition, permits, and tender issues caused authorities to miss the original deadline of March 2025. Authorities' warning of fines for further delays pushed the contractor to speed up the work that began in November 2021.

PMRDA officials said that while the trial runs may begin by September, regular passenger service will start from next year. The project is developed under public-private partnership (PPP).

Rinaj Pathan, chief engineer, PMRDA, said, "Station facilities are in the final stage. At present, the trial...