The much anticipated Vande Bharat train to Pune ex-Nagpur is going to commence from August 10 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to flag of the inaugural run. While the buzz was about debut of maiden sleeper rake of Vande Bharat series on Pune route, but wait for same has prolonged. The train that is going to run from Ajni railway station may run as tri-weekly service, subject to availability of path as the ongoing work of third and fourth line is not yet complete in critical choked corridor of Indian Railways.

 

Since the sleeper rake delivery of Vande Bharat starts from next year onward, those wishing to travel by Vande Bharat to Pune would have only seating arrangement. Given the distance of over 850 kms, a sitting journey is not going to be exactly comfortable. Still, as being mentioned, the journey to Pune will be fastest one, within 12 hours. As per plan, initially the Vande Bharat train is going to run ex-Ajni and terminate at Hadapsar Station, as Pune station does not have capacity for intake of any new trains. The salient point of the new link to Pune is that it’s going to be the fastest to run on the route. At present, the journey to Pune takes 16 hours by regular Mail/Express trains while Maharashtra Express takes more than 18 hours which is quite tiring for the travellers. Division officials said the exact details of the service are yet to be communicated by the Board as they are still working on the timing to adjust as finding the right path for the fastest services requires quite heavy working on ground.

 

As is the practice, train details including its number and frequency are fed in Passenger Reservation System (PRS), which is usually done two days before inaugural run, then only one can known exact details. The talk is that ex-Ajni, the service will start in the evening while from Hadapsar end, the Vande Bharat Express will commence journey at 6 am so as to reach Ajni by evening. There is heavy traffic on the Pune route as majority of people from Vidarbha hinterland are now working in various capacities in the IT industries mainly. For them, the faster service between Nagpur-Pune-Nagpur is going to be of immense benefit. As per the programme, the main programme is scheduled in Karnataka from where Prime Minister is going to flag of three Vande Bharat trains, Bengaluru-Belagavi, Nagpur-Pune and Amritsar-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. The rake composition and other details of Pune Vande Bharat train as to days on which the train will run and its stoppages are being worked out by the railway officials. In a day or two, the train’s itinerary is going to be finalised and released for information of citizens.

 

Though Ajni has been chosen for start of the most premium passenger service of Indian Railways, the sorry conditions at the station are going to be in stark contrast to the train. The remodelling work at Ajni has come at cost of passenger amenities, especially lack of cover over shed on platform no. 2, it is used for departing trains. In case of rains there is no way the travellers can avoid getting drenched as no space remains available for taking shelter for them. The work as per Railway employees is going at quite leisurely pace at Ajni and might not be completed by the expected deadline, unless the pace of construction is increased.