India, Nov. 9 -- Pune's new Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro corridor has generated considerable excitement, particularly among IT professionals who have spent years negotiating the notorious traffic congestion in the city's western corridor. A 23-km journey that takes around 45 minutes by Metro, without the uncertainty of road traffic, is certainly attractive. But there is a larger question that will determine whether the new service becomes a preferred mode of daily transport: how much time does a commuter actually save travelling from home to work and back?

The answer may not be as encouraging as the journey time advertised by the PMRDA.

Public transport efficiency cannot be judged by the time a train takes to travel between two stations...