Title - Pune's rail connectivity goes up

PUNE: Train passengers in Pune can look forward to increased connectivity to Mumbai, Solapur, Chennai, Puducherry, Karaikal, Hyderabad and Delhi over the next few months.

A close look at the revised all-India railway time-table published on July 1 has at least seven new trains connecting cities in the north and the south of the country that would benefit Puneites. All these trains will be introduced in the next few months, before next March.

As many as 67 trains were announced in the railway budget this year, but not a single one originated from Pune. Rail commuters had to take solace in the two trains passing through Pune -- Mumbai-Solapur Express which was to run six days a week, and another weekly train between Mumbai and Hubli.

But train connection to several cities in the north and south of the country from Pune just got better. Railway commuters travelling to Mumbai have been consistently making a demand for a train to Mumbai between 10 am and 1 pm. The new intercity train between Solapur and Mumbai will fulfil this wish. The train, which will start from Solapur, will leave Pune at 10.35 am to reach Mumbai at 2.45 pm via Panvel.

It will have second class seating, and AC chair car coaches. The Mumbai-Solapur intercity train will leave Mumbai at 1.15 pm and reach Pune at 5.45 pm, before proceeding to Solapur after a 15-minute halt in Pune.

An additional superfast train between Pune and Solapur, Hutatma Express, whose timing has been revised, will leave Pune at 2.05 pm to reach Solapur at 6.20 pm. From Solapur, the Hutatma Express will leave at 10 am to arrive in Pune at 2.15 pm. This train was not announced in the railway budget.

Trains to Delhi are always in demand. The biweekly Chandigarh-Yeswantpur (Bangalore) Karnataka Sampark Kranti Express, announced in the railway budget, will go via Pune, to Delhi and Bangalore.

Another biweekly train announced in the railway budget was between Mumbai and Kakinada. This train will also go via Pune, providing connectivity to Secunderabad (Hyderabad), Guntur and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

The present train between Lokmanya Tilak terminus and Vishakapatnam (going from Pune), which runs only twice a week, will be made into a daily train. The timing will be revised once the Mumbai-Kakinada train is introduced.

The time-table also lists a new weekly train between Mumbai and Karaikal (a beach town in Puducherry) which will go via Pune, and connect it to Chennai and Puducherry. The date for the introduction of this new train will be announced later.