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Pune railway division secures ₹1,300 crore for various development works
Projects like yard remodelling, a pit line for Vande Bharat Express trains at Ghorpadi, and doubling of the Pune to Miraj Londha line are expected to gather speed
Following the announcement of the union budget on February 1, the union minister for railways Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the state-wise fund allocation for the railways in which a record ₹13,539 crore have been allocated to Maharashtra, out of which ₹1,300 crore have been allotted to the Pune railway division alone. Hence, projects in the Pune railway division including major ones such as yard remodelling, a pit line for Vande Bharat Express trains at Ghorpadi, and doubling of the Pune to Miraj Londha line are expected to gather speed.
The union railways’ ministry on Friday announced the ‘pink book’, which is a record of various projects undertaken or still to be undertaken by the railways. According to the ‘pink book’, a new pit line for Vande Bharat Express trains will be laid in Pune, for which a provision of ₹50 crore has been made in this year’s railway budget. Considerable provision has also been made for the development of a diesel shed and 18 important railway stations under ‘Amrit Bharat’ in the Pune division. At the same time, new routes including the 54 km Baramati-Lonand route and 105 km Phaltan-Pandharpur one have been approved, and funds have been allocated for the same. Provision has also been made for constructing overbridges along some routes in the Pune division.
A senior official of the Pune railway division on condition of anonymity said, “There has been substantial allocation of funds for the Pune railway division in this year’s budget including an allocation of ₹2 crore for the development of Hadapsar railway station. To shift operations from Pune to Hadapsar railway station, it is an important step and by next year, Hadapsar will become a terminal. While ₹25 crore have been sanctioned for the yard remodelling project at Pune railway station.”
The yard remodelling project was officially announced in 2018 with an aim to increase the operations of long-distance trains with more than 24 coaches from Pune railway station. Currently, there is a lot of pressure on Pune railway station with more than 230 trains operating from six platforms. The Pune railway division had sent the proposal to the central board of railways and after some to and fro and the Covid-19 pandemic in between, the work will finally begin now.
Among other important fund allocations for the Pune railway division are ₹50.45 crore for creating a pit line for Vande Bharat Express trains and ₹430 crore for the Daund to Manmad railway doubling line work.
