Pune-Nashik high-speed rail line gets go-ahead

The Pune-Nashik rail line project was recently given the go-ahead as the line will connect 2 essential powerhouses of the country's most vibrant cities. The Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development (MRIDC) completed the DPR for the high-speed rail and sent it to Railway Board & Maharashtra government for approval. As of now, there is no direct rail connectivity among Pune-Nasik. Rail network and rail users have to go via complicated route by Lonavala, Karjat, Panvel, Diva, Kalyan, Igatpuri till Nasik. This rail project will be the world's 1st semi high-speed corridor over the broad gauge, Maharail declared. MRIDC/MahaRail will be completing the semi-high-speed double line project that will reduce the travel time from Pune to Nashik for about a couple of hours. This semi-high speed corridor including double railway broad gauge lines from Pune to Nasik will allow the trains to operate at a speed of up to 250 km/h in the future. As both the cities are the fastest growing cities of Maharashtra and together constituting 18 percent of the population of the state & contributing 19% Gross Value. The MRIDC has aimed to operate the Pune-Nashik broad gauge rail line with a commercial speed of 200km per hr with a coming addition of up to 250 km per hour. The Railway line will touch 3 districts including Pune, Ahmednagar & Nashik by serving seamless connectivity to industrial zones of Pune and Nashik like Alandi, Chakan, Khed, Manchar, Narayangaon, Sinnar & Satpur, said an official spokesperson.