Decision on Baramati-Daund-Pune train restarting soon: collector

PUNE It has been a travel issue for thousands of passengers on the Baramati-Daund-Pune route, as the daily train has not yet started, despite repeated demands by passenger groups

PUNE It has been a travel issue for thousands of passengers on the Baramati-Daund-Pune route, as the daily train has not yet started, despite repeated demands by passenger groups.

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Prior to the Covid pandemic, daily, around 10,000 passengers would travel between these two cities, but service was shut down due to the pandemic.

The ticket fare is ₹30 on the route, but now, for commuters, traveling by MSRTC buses, private vehicles or other transport options, has raised expenses.

“Thousands of people come to Pune city from Baramati and Daund daily for their work in different fields like government and private offices, semi-government, banks, police department, blood banks, hospitals and several other emergency services. The number of passengers traveling between the cities is more than 10,000, so it is necessary that the train service be started immediately. Most of them cannot afford to travel by private buses or vehicles,” said Vikas Deshpande, secretary of the Daund-Pune-Daund Pravasi Sangh.

“I daily travel by ST bus from Baramati to Pune for my job and many times I miss my scheduled bus and reach office late. If train is started there won’t be any problem. As the Pune-Lonavala local train has started, our daily shuttle should also start,” said Prakash Shinde, a daily commuter on this route.

Pune district collector Rajendra Deshmukh said, “We will convey the demands of passengers to the concerned state government authorities and further decision to start back the train service will be taken.”