Overview
- Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the Pune–Sainagar Shirdi Daily Express on Wednesday, June 17, and the service runs as 11423/11424 with a 6:55 am Pune departure, a 6:10 pm return from Shirdi, stops at Daund Chord Cabin, Shrigonda, Ahilyanagar, Rahuri and Belapur, and a 15‑coach LHB rake.
- Vaishnaw also launched the Pune–Danapur Amrit Bharat Express as a weekly service (11431/11432) that departs Pune Saturdays at 15:30, returns to Pune Tuesdays at 11:05, follows the Khandwa route and halts at 19 stations between Pune and Danapur.
- The government laid foundation stones for a multi‑year Pune masterplan that includes yard remodelling, six new platforms at Pune station, a mega terminal at Alandi and shifted maintenance to peripheral depots with local works near Rs 600 crore and broader Maharashtra rail investments of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore.
- Officials said the originally proposed direct Pune–Nashik semi‑high‑speed alignment was dropped after technical objections related to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope near Narayangaon, and a revised Pune–Ahilyanagar–Shirdi–Nashik route has a completed DPR and parts already sanctioned or under work.
- Railway officials expect the new trains and capacity upgrades to ease pilgrim travel, boost Shirdi’s local economy, improve access from Ahilyanagar to Pune’s education and health services, and free platform space for about 20 additional trains once project work is finished.