Wednesday, August 14, 2024 Central Railway’s new route for Mumbai-Pune aims to cut travel time by 30 minutes, bypassing steep ghats with innovative tunnels and improved connectivity. Travelers between Mumbai and Pune can look forward to a significant reduction in travel time with the Central Railway’s new proposal. The planned route is designed to bypass the steep ghats and challenging terrain of the existing line by focusing on a more direct ghat section.
This ambitious plan involves constructing several tunnels to facilitate the new rail route. Initial approval for this long-term solution has been granted by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, allowing further exploration into enhancing train connectivity between the two cities. Currently, Central Railway aims to reduce the journey time by 30 minutes by adding new tracks to two proposed routes between Mumbai and Pune.
This improvement could also accommodate up to 10 additional trains. A feasibility study is underway to finalize the alignment, considering both cost and terrain. The new tracks will be positioned east of the existing route, bypassing Lonavala.
Unlike the current route’s steep 1/37 grade, the proposed route features gentler slopes, enabling trains to reach speeds of up to 110 km/h and significantly cutting travel time. Once the Kalyan yard enhancements and new platforms at Panvel and LTT are completed, Central Railway plans to introduce 10 more trains. At present, only two trains—Mumbai-Solapur Va.