Rlys starts passenger trains on Pune route
| Date :09-Oct-2020 |
Staff Reporter :
After Mumbai, now one more lucrative route for Indian Railways, Nagpur-Pune-Nagpur is being opened for the movement of long distance passenger trains as the COVID-19 pandemic began to recede. The rush is palpable as nearly six months period of lockdown caused immense losses to Indian Railways. Apart from that even regular commuters had been longing for resumption of direct train services on Nagpur-Pune route where traffic is increasing very rapidly.
On Thursday, Central Railway said four more trains from Nagpur and one from Amravati would be initiated by next week to restore normalcy at the earliest. Pune-Nagpur AC Special weekly: 01417 AC weekly special train will leave Pune from September 15 on every Thursday and reach Nagpur next day. 01418 AC weekly special will leave Nagpur from September 16 on every Friday and reach Pune next day. The train will have same halts as that of Humsafar AC Express and it would have 13 AC-III tier coaches. Pune-Ajni AC Special weekly: 02239 AC weekly special train will leave Pune from September 17 on every Saturday and arrive at Ajni the next day. 02240 AC weekly special will leave Ajni from September 18 on every Sunday and reach Pune the next day. It would also have 13 AC-III tier coaches. Pune-Amravati AC Special weekly: 02117 AC weekly special train will leave Pune from September 14 on every Wednesday and arrive Amravati the next day. 02118 AC weekly special will leave Amravati from September 15 every Thursday and arrive at Pune next day.
The train would have one first AC class, four AC-II tier, Nine AC-III tier bogies. Ajni-Pune AC Special weekly: 02224 AC weekly special will leave Ajni from September 13 on every Tuesday and reach Pune the next day. 02223 AC weekly special train will leave Pune from September 16 every Friday and arrive at Ajni the next day. It would have one first AC class, four AC-II tier, Nine AC-III tier. Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus Kolhapur-Gondia special (Daily): 01039 Special train will leave Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus Kolhapur daily from September 11 till further advice and arrive Gondia next day. 01040 Special train will leave Gondia daily from September 13 and reach Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus Kolhapur the next day.
The Railway Board has curtailed some of the halts of the train namely that of Sewagram, Chandur Rly, Jalamb, Puntamba, Jarandeshwar, Targaon, Masur, Bhavani Nagar, Takari and Valivade. This was done after reviewing ticket sales and to speed-up the train. The train has 9 sleeper class, one AC-II tier, two AC-III tier, 5 second class seating. Bookings for 02224/02223 AC special, 01039 and 01140 special trains will commence from October 9; while bookings for 01417/01418, 02117/02118 and 02239/02240 AC special trains will commence from October 11 at all reservation centres and on website: www.irctc.co.in. Only passengers having confirmed tickets will be permitted to board these special trains. Passengers are advised to adhere all norms, SoPs related to COVID-19 during the boarding, travel and at destination, said a railway release issued here.
No announcement on Garib Rath There is still no word about the most popular train on Nagpur-Pune route, Garib Rath, from Central Railway. The affordable fare of the train plus air conditioned travel attracted travellers. Along side the comfortable travel times, leaving during evening from either end and reaching the destination in morning the next day ensured good patronage to the train.