Mumbai: The much-awaited Pune-Nashik rail line project which will connect two key powerhouses of India’s richest was given the go ahead on Thursday.
The detailed project report (DPR) for the high-speed rail corridor was completed by the state-run Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (MRIDC) in February and sent for approval by the Railway Board and Maharashtra government.
The above rail network diagram distinctively shows that there is no such direct rail connectivity between Pune to Nasik. Rail traffic has to go through a complex route via Lonavala, Karjat, Panvel, Diva, Kalyan, Igatpuri to Nasik.
All you need to know about Pune-Nashik rail line project:
MRIDC or MahaRail will be implementing the ‘semi-high-speed double line’ project which aims to bring the travel time between Pune and Nashik down to two hours. The upcoming semi-high speed corridor comprising double railway broad gauge lines between Pune to Nasik will enable the trains to run at a speed of upto 250 kmph in the future. This project is going to be the world's first semi high speed corridor over broad gauge, Maharail claimed.
"MRIDC has planned and designed to run the Pune-Nashik broad gauge rail line with the commercial speed of 200km/hr with future increment up to 250 km/hr," the corporation said in a release. Currently, there is not direct rail link between the two cities Pune and Nasik both are fastest growing cities of Maharashtra and collectively constituting 18% of the population of the state and contributing 19% Gross Value Added to the state. A sharp rise in the volume of movement of goods between Pune to Nashik route has occurred over the past few years.
The Pune to Nasik region has also the important tourism locations like Shirdi Sai temple, Trimbakeshwar temple, Bhimashankar Temple, Alandi etc. which reconcile a potential amount of tourist movements throughout the year. The Railway line will pass through three districts of Maharashtra - Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik - providing seamless connectivity to industrial zones of Pune and Nashik such as Alandi, Chakan, Khed, Manchar, Narayangaon, Sinnar and Satpur, said the release.