Prioritise local trains over express trains; pax travelling between Pune & Lonavla demand

As local trains running daily between Pune and Lonavla are getting delayed due to express trains being given priority on the route, thousands of miffed passengers travelling by these local trains have now raised their voice and demanded that the local trains be given priority over express trains.

Omkar Hule posted on his official ‘X’ handle: “Please do something about the Lonavla to Pune or Shivajinagar local trains that are always running late due to the passing of express trains which already run late every day. Because of these trains, local train commuters are facing inconvenience.”

Currently, there are eight local trains running between Pune and Lonavla in 42 schedules. There are 21 trains from Pune to Lonavla and 21 from Lonavla to Pune; both travelling between 5 am and 12 pm. Daily, nearly 30,000 passengers, mostly students and office goers, travel by this route. In the afternoon, the number of local train operations is less as students who had travelled to the schools/colleges have to return home

Talking about the issue, a senior railway official on condition of anonymity, said, “As there was a load of special trains headed for north India for the Maha Kumbh, we had given priority to these trains. Now the local trains’ time table will get stabilised soon.”