Pune railway division has highest punctuality

Growth in passenger traffic, a better punctuality record in running of trains and an improvement in infrastructure were some hallmarks of the Pune division of Central Railway during 2010.

The year saw a growth of 9% in passenger traffic, compared to the last calendar year. Both long distance and suburban trains carried over 675 lakh passengers during the year, of which 317 lakh
people travelled by local and passenger trains.

This year, the division ran over 476 special trains and attached 936 coaches to long distance trains. Besides, three new trains connecting Pune to Jaipur, Howrah and Eranakulam were introduced. The services of three passenger trains too were extended.

“We also completed converting all electric multiple unit (EMU) rakes from nine to 12 coaches during this year, enabling around 33% additional daily commuters to travel by EMU locals,” said Prabhat Sahai, divisional commercial manager, Pune division.

However, the biggest achievement for the division this year was perhaps in having an impressive punctuality record in running local and long distance trains.

Among the five divisions of Central Railway — Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Bhusawal and Solapur — Pune division had the best punctuality record (93.66%)  in the running of suburban trains. In the running of the long distance trains, it achieved 93.06% punctuality, second only to Nagpur division.

Indian Railways introduced the punctuality analysis management (PAN) this year, where arrival, departure and running of trains have been computerised and tracked to improve efficiency. The manual recording of the running of the trains has been done away with to avoid tampering with the records.

“Pune division has done quite well as far as punctuality is concerned. But we need to achieve better results on that front,” said Sahai, adding that there were no major train mishaps this year.

Platforms no. 2 and 3 were extended to accommodate bigger trains this year. While Platform 3, like Platform 1, can now accommodate trains with 24 coaches, Platform 2 can accommodate a 22-coach train. Earlier, only Platform 1 could accommodate such a long train.

The problem was that if there was a train standing on that platform, other incoming or outgoing trains from Pune station had to wait till that train vacated the platform.

According to Sahai, the division this year has been able to lay 138-km rail tracks from Miraj to Pandharpur, which would enable trains to ply from Solapur to Kolhapur.

New ticket booking counters at Talegaon, Chinchwad and Valiwade stations were opened during the year. Booking windows were also added at Pune station for unreserved tickets.

The authorities carried out a series of awareness programmes to deal with mishaps at unmanned railway crossings.

However, the problem of unauthorised hawkers at stations and in trains, complaints from commuters about rude behaviour of a section of railway staff, and the mess at the main gate at Pune station on account of unauthorised parking of autos and private vehicles proved intractable this year also.

Unauthorised hawkers are not only a security concern but also lack quality of food they serve to commuters. The travelling public expect decisive action by the authorities on this issue.