Railway ministry expands Pune Division; 24 additional stations including Daund, Manmad, Shirdi now under it

Following the announcement, many commuters between Daund and Pune stations hope that Daund would be declared a suburban station and an EMU service would be started on the route soon.

Following the announcement, many commuters who travel from Daund to Pune for work or study have expressed hope that their demands would be fulfilled by declaring Daund a suburban station and starting an EMU service on the route. (File Photo)

After over 40 years of persistent demands, the Ministry of Railways has finally announced the inclusion of the Daund-Manmad section under the Pune Division. The decision, effective from April 1, involves shifting the 224 km stretch covering 24 stations – including Daund, Manmad, Ahmednagar and Shirdi – to Pune Division from Solapur Division.

With this, commuters are hoping that their grievances about the new Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) services and other issues will be resolved soon as till now the issues were dealt with by the Solapur Division headquarters which was around 200 km from Daund.

As per the NGO Railway Pravasi Manch, around 50,000 people travel from Daund towards Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Talegaon daily. Due to the large numbers, they had been seeking the introduction of EMU trains which are convenient and time-saving compared to the current Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) shuttle trains.

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Dilip Holkar, who commutes daily from Daund to Pune, said more frequent services are necessary between the two stations. “There is one DEMU shuttle train that runs at 8.20 am from Daund to Pune. The second train runs directly at 5 pm. These trains are not enough and take much time compared to EMU,” the techie said.

According to Daund residents, the demand to introduce an EMU on the route has been prevalent since 1978 when the railway launched the service in the Pune-Lonavala section. However, in 2016 the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) electrified the Daund section with the introduction of DEMU whereas no EMU has been introduced since then. The Central Railway has proposed to the Railway Board to declare Daund a suburban station but the decision has been pending.

Kamlesh, a college student who travels daily from Daund to Pune, said that to start an EMU service, the stations between Pune and Daund have to be declared suburban, a demand that has been pending for 40 to 45 years.

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“The demand has been there since the time of our parents and grandparents. DEMU trains have various issues like time consumption, diesel usage, no female compartment, and frequent technical failures,” he said, adding that DEMU trains consist of around 10 coaches and run at 70 km per hour whereas EMU trains have around 15 coaches and move at a speed of 110 km per hour.

Ramdas Bhise, Senior Divisional Operations Manager (Pune Division), said that with the decision to take the Pune-Manmad section under Pune Division, technical works in the section will become convenient for the administration. “Technical inspections used to take around two days and the delay will now be resolved,” he said.

Shubham Tigga

Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More

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