Going long to bring Mumbai, Pune closer

Updated On: 23 July, 2024 06:38 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar

Rail minister gives green signal for new alignment with gentler slopes, which while being longer, will reduce travel time between the two cities

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A Vande Bharat train at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. Pic/Satej Shinde

For the first time in 160 years, a plan for a new rail alignment between Mumbai and Pune to bypass the existing steep ghats and 28 tunnels received the go-ahead last weekend. Calling it the simpler inclines of 1/100 ‘Sreedharan grade,’ Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has asked Central Railway to work on it expeditiously. The minister took a ride onboard a three-coach special inspection train with a halt at Lonavala and examined the process of navigating ghats and the operation of banker locomotives.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at Pune station on Saturday