Afternoon train from Pune to Lonavla not possible: Rly min
The issue resurfaced after railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a letter dated Aug 11 to Maval MP Shrirang Barne, stated that it was 'not possible' to operate local trains during this period as the corridor block is reserved for track maintenance.
Earlier, the railways operated local trains during the afternoon hours, but discontinued the service after the Covid pandemic.
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The demand for afternoon services has been pending for several years, with passengers complaining that they often are forced to wait two to three hours at stations for the next available train.
"City buses are not a practical option as they take longer and require multiple changes," said Mayuresh Jhaweri, a regular commuter.
He said college students are the worst affected, as they have no convenient transport after classes in the afternoon.
Iqbal Mulani of the Railway Prawasi Sangh said Pune division should adopt the practice followed in Mumbai, where maintenance blocks are taken only on weekends.
Mulani, along with representatives of several schools, met the divisional railway manager (DRM) last year to press for the demand. "Over 20,000 students travel between Pune and Lonavla by local trains, including nearly 8,000 who commute daily between Lonavla and Talegaon.
Most of them finish school after noon and end up waiting for more than two hours at stations to head home," he said.
Nikhil Kanchi, former member of the Railway Advisory Committee, said, "A four-line track between Pune and Mumbai is urgently needed. The proposal has been pending with the govt for a long time."
Barne said he has been pursuing the matter with the central govt for years, and has written to both former and current railway ministers, but without success.
"I will continue to follow up on this issue to ensure that some alternative solution is found," he said.
The Maval MP said he wrote another letter to the railway minister on Aug 4, urging the govt to expedite the work of laying two additional railway lines between Pune and Mumbai. "The railway ministry approved two extra tracks for this route in 2017 and even conducted a survey, but the project is yet to begin," he stated in his letter.
Ramdas Bhise, senior divisional operations manager (DOM) of railways for Pune, told TOI that at present, they are taking a two-hour-and-forty-five-minute block in the afternoon, and it is essential for track maintenance to ensure passenger safety.
"Unlike Mumbai, which has multiple tracks and can carry out maintenance for routes at night, Pune has only two tracks," Bhise said.
"Due to the heavy movement of express trains at night, carrying out maintenance during that time would disrupt the entire long-distance train schedule.
So, work has to be done during the day," he said, adding that daily maintenance is done at every section and division of the railways, and timing for the same is decided based on the frequency of trains.
"Adding more tracks is the only long-term solution to the issue," Bhise added.
Another official clarified that while goods trains may sometimes be seen on tracks during the afternoon, they generally operate only up to stations near the maintenance site. "Freight trains do not follow a fixed timetable and can be halted at any station to allow maintenance to continue. Passenger trains, however, cannot be managed in this way," he added.
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