Pune-Nashik rail travellers will save over four hours with semi high-speed rail line

Illustrations of the proposed new Pune railway station

If the progress remains on track, people, in a few years, would be able to save a massive amount of time travelling between Pune and Nashik. The proposed semi high-speed rail line between the two cities was approved by the state government on Monday, and the MahaRail managing director heading the project is known for fast-track work.

"The 235-km Pune-Nashik semi high-speed rail line has been pegged to bring down the travel time from six hours to one hour 45 minutes. The project, a double, electrified line with 18 tunnels and 19 viaducts, had received Central Railway's nod on February 10, 2020, and in-principle approval from the Ministry of Railways on June 2, 2020. With the state government's go-ahead, MahaRail hopes to complete the project at the earliest," said a railways official.

The Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (MRIDCL) or MahaRail is implementing the project under the leadership of Managing Director Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal. He is known to fast-track implementation of projects and has expertise in high-speed trains. Jaiswal had completed the 310-km Jalgaon-Surat stretch in three years. MahaRail has estimated that the project will be complete in 1,200 days once financial agreements are in place, the official said.

This semi high-speed train, that would cover 24 stations, will start from the proposed new Pune railway station and pass through talukas of Haveli, Khed, Ambegaon and Junnar tehsils of Pune district, Sangamner tehsil of Ahmednagar district and Sinnar and Nashik tehsils of Nashik district. It will initially have six coaches and run at the speed of 200 kmph with future increment of up to 250 kmph. The number of coaches can be later increased to 12 and even 16, he said.

"This project is unique because goods, conventional passenger and high-speed trains can run on the same route. The entire cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 16,039 crore (including taxes). The state govt and the Railways shall contribute equity of 20 per cent each of the project cost, and the remaining 60 per cent would be raised from domestic financial institutions," he said.

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3.3 years
Est. time for project completion