Tata’s TBM S79 Records Pune Metro’s Final Breakthrough

Gulermak – Tata Projects JV on Saturday celebrated the completion of tunneling work for Pune Metro Phase 1’s 16.589 km Purple Line (PCMC – Swargate).

This historic 8th and final breakthrough by tunnel boring machine S79 (Mula-II) was recorded at Budhwar Peth Station for the 2.74 km Package UGC-02’s 2144m down-line tunnel connecting Swargate and Budhwar Peth.

This was S79’s 4th breakthrough. Prior to this, the Ø6.61m Terratec EPB machine was deployed on Package UGC-01 and arrived at Budhwar Peth from Civil Court in July 2021.

A video of the breakthrough can be viewed on Pune Metro’s Facebook page.

Gulermak – Tata Projects had deployed a total of 3 TBMs to build Pune Metro Phase 1‘s 6.52 km underground section between Range Hills Ramp – Swargate. Tunneling by TBM S78 commenced on December 7, 2019 and the first breakthrough was recorded on December 31.

Here’s what the future holds for each machine:

• TBM S78 has been sent to Surat Metro to work on Gulermak – Sam JV’s 3.46 km Package UG-1 (Kapodra Ramp – Surat Railway Station) along with a new S94 machine.
• TBM S79 performed a bulk of excavation (approx. 4.5 km) and will now likely be retired and cannibalized for parts.
• TBM S81 has been sent to Chennai Metro Phase 2 to work on Tata Projects’s 9 km Package TU-01 (Venugopal Nagar – Kellys section) along with 6 other machines.

With this development, I see the underground section opening up for operations no sooner than mid-2024 with the quantum of pending civil, systems, architectural finishing, testing and other activities to go. Prior to that we should see a part of the Aqua Line’s Reach 3 (7.657 km Civil Court – Ramwadi) opening up in 2023.

For more updates, check out the Pune Metro section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? See how you can support the site over here.

– TMRG