As India has yet to build much of its projected urban transport infrastructure, this presents a challenge as well as an opportunity. The new investment if guided by the principles of sustainability can make a lot of difference. The question that India needs to ask is whether it will be able to see the turn around soon in its cities.

This paper critically analyzes the decision making systems behind the proposed Pune metro rail system and its detailed project report, and exposes many weaknesses in both. The decision making system is seen to be ad?hoc, and not sufficiently transparent or participative. The detailed project report suffers from many serious methodological and analytical errors.