Pune: The Central Railway (CR) will take up the long-delayed redevelopment of Pune Railway Station and the comprehensive remodelling of the Pune yard on priority, general manager Prateek Goswami announced on Saturday.“Work on alternative stations, specifically Hadapsar and Khadki, is more than 90% complete. Once these are operational, we will shift train operations from Pune in a phased manner to kickstart both the yard remodelling and station redevelopment,” Goswami said during a visit to the city. The Pune yard remodelling project has been in the pipeline since 2017-18. The plan involves increasing the length of the six existing platforms to accommodate longer trains and adding six additional platforms to boost capacity. After years of technical tweaks, a final blueprint was approved last May. The broader station redevelopment follows a similar timeline. In addition to Hadapsar and Khadki, the railways are also looking to upgrade Uruli and Alandi stations to further decentralise traffic. Currently, seven trains originate and six terminate at Hadapsar. However, Goswami refrained from providing a specific launch date for the Pune station work, noting only that the shift in operations is the necessary precursor. The urgency of the project is underscored by Pune Station’s massive footprint: it handles over 1.5 lakh passengers daily and serves as the hub for more than 70 originating trains, alongside dozens of passing services. The resulting congestion has led to frequent passenger complaints regarding inadequate facilities and heavy crowding. “The railways have discussed this for years, but the need is now critical,” said a regular commuter. “Due to the platform shortage, long-distance trains are often forced to wait outside the station for hours. We need clear timelines, not just promises.” Addressing the proposed Mumbai-Pune high-speed rail corridor, Goswami confirmed that surveys for the project will commence shortly. This follows the Union Budget announcement and subsequent remarks by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who stated that the high-speed link aims to reduce travel time between the two cities to just 48 minutes.
