Central Railway general manager Kul Bhushan has assured the Mahratta chamber of commerce, industries and agriculture (MCCIA) functionary, Chandmal Parmar, of a separate terminal for suburban local trains at Pune railway station.
He was answering a query from Parmar during the recent zonal railway users consultative committee, of which Parmar is a member. Parmar had suggested the creation of a separate terminal for local trains to ease the pressure at Pune railway station.
“The terminal will either come up opposite the regional transport office (RTO) or near the parcel office. The proposal has been included in the masterplan made for Pune station,” Kul Bhushan said.
The general manager’s statement assumes significance since the Pune railway division authorities had stated that at present there is no such proposal to have a separate terminal for suburban trains at Pune station.
However, the Central Railway has turned down Parmar’s demand for starting three new trains from Pune to Mumbai in the afternoon and evening.
Railway authorities said that this is not possible since in this section the track maintenance work takes place in the afternoon and is highly congested due to heavy local train traffic between Karjat and Mumbai in evening.
Kul Bhushan also informed Parmar that starting a mainline electric multiple unit train service (with toilet facility) between Pune and Mumbai would not be possible since no such rakes are available with the Central Railway.
Parmar has also requested the Central Railway to expedite construction work on the third track between Pune and Lonavla, for which financial provisions have already been made in the railway budget.
