Pune Junction railway station

History

The Mumbai – Pune railway line was completed in 1856 and Pune railway station was opened. This was the time when the first train ran from Pune railway station. The Pune – Miraj line was completed by 1886. Initially Pune – Miraj line was meter gauge track. The first express train ran in 1928 between Mumbai – Pune.

Services

Pune Railway Station serves as a stop for south bound trains from Mumbai, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as the origin/destination for trains to north India. Pune is well linked to the entire country by this station. There are plans for a bullet train from Pune to Ahmedabad which will originate/terminate here. This is a major head for freight transport for Pune.

Suburban Trains

Pune's suburban service operate on 2 major routes, i.e. from Pune Junction to Lonavala and from Pune Junction to Talegaon. There are 3 trains which operate on Pune – Talegaon route while 15 trains operate on Pune – Lonavala route. Important stations on this route are Shivajinagar Station, Khadki Station, Pimpri Station, Chinchwad Station, Akurdi Station, Dehu Road Station, Talegaon Station and Lonavala Station. There are 8 passenger trains between Pune Junction to Daund section. These operate as suburban trains for this route. In this way the Pune to Daund section becomes the third route for suburban trains. The important halts on this route are Loni Station and Urali Station. Electrification works have begun on Pune – Daund section, after completion it is expected that the route will get regular suburban trains. The administration is now focusing to complete this work quickly.

Deccan Odyssey

This is a tourist trap operated by the Indian Railways. This train takes a tour of Maharashtra and Goa. Along its route it has Pune Junction as its stop.

High Speed rail

Indian Railways are planning to start High-speed rail in India. Pune-Ahmedabad Bullet train is one of these trains. This train is expected to cover 533 km at an average speed of 350 km/h. This train will stop at Mumbai. Currently Pune-Ahmedabad section takes 10 hrs by rail. This distance would be covered in just 1 hrs 52 min with the introduction of this bullet train. This train is expected to cover Pune to Mumbai in 40 min. It is expected that this route will have 26.6 million passengers by 2021.

Infrastructure

This station has two footbridges. Plans are being made to upgrade this station to world-class standard.

Diesel Loco Shed

A diesel loco shed located near Ghorpadi railway station comes under the Pune Railway Division. It is one of the three diesel sheds belonging to Central railway and the largest of all of them.

Maldhakka Goods Yard

Maldhakka is the freight depot of Pune Railway Station and consist of 2 railway shades. All freight trains are loaded and unloaded at this depot. The entrance to the goods yard is situated in Maldhakka Chowk.

Developments

The station is powered by a 160 kWp solar power plant which generates around 2.4 lakh units(kWh) annually. The project is the first of its kind for Railways, funded by Persistant CSR, Sunshot engineered the plant and commissioned in June 2016. This project is replicated at Hyderabad Deccan railway station and was inaugurated by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Future

There are plans for increase in early services between Mumbai–Pune section., laying of additional track between Pune and Lonavla and to increase frequency for which surveys were accepted in budget 2011–12 connecting Nashik by rail for which the feasibility survey was accepted in budget of 2011–12. and construction of separate terminal for suburban trains. Proposal to construction of new EMU terminal situated to the west of the existing station having two lines and one platform.