Pune : Considering the approaching summer vacations, the Central Railway has announced a number of summer special trains from Pune.

The trains
* Pune-Ahmedabad special: every Thursday between April 1 and June 24; the train will depart from Pune at 3.20 pm and arrive Ahemadabad next day at 4 am. The same train will leave Ahmedabad at 2.10 pm and 4 reach Pune next day at 4.45 am. The train will have a total of 19 cases, of which 11 are second class reserved coaches

PUNE: Pune-Manmad Express and local train service between Pune and Lonavla will remain partially affected for the next two days — on Thursday and Friday — for a special traffic block in the Khandala-Malavali section for carrying out electric work, a Central Railway release said on Wednesday.

Accordingly, the 1026 Pune-Manmad Express will leave one-and-a-half hours late from the Pune railway station at 2.25 pm, instead of its usual departure time of 12.50 pm.

Also, the local train (L-18) to Lonavla, leaving Pune at 1 pm, will run only up to Chinchwad railway station.

Travelling to Mumbai this Sunday could be difficult as all intercity trains have been cancelled for the day for the maintenance work being undertaken by the Central Railway. This holds true for trains bound for Lonavala and Talegaon as well as they will either be cancelled or will terminate at Chinchwad. Long-distance trains scheduled to pass through Pune will either bypass the junction or run a few hours late.

Considering the growing number of deaths caused due to careless crossing of railway tracks, the Pune Division of the Central Railway has undertaken an awareness drive to educate people about the precautions to be taken at level crossings, especially the unmanned ones.

Last week, the Divisional Safety Department of Central Railway conducted a public awareness campaign to educate the road users of unmanned level crossing gates in Pune. There are 128 manned and 61 unmanned level crossings in the division.

PUNE: Civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Thursday inaugurated the first non-scheduled flight service between Aamby Valley City — the country’s first integrated hill city spread over a 4,294 hectare expanse off Lonavla — and Mumbai.

Six flights, mainly operated by small aircraft with seating capacities of eight to 18, will fly initially from Friday to Monday between Mumbai- Aamby Valley. The project developer, Sahara India, has set up a self-sustained state-of-the-art private airport with a 1,200-metre runway and an independent ATC unit.

PUNE: Those travelling to Dadar, Thane, Borivali, Nashik and Aurangabad by the state transport's Shivneri and Volvo buses can now book their tickets on-line.

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has launched the internet booking service from Friday through which reservations for more than 915 buses starting from Pune will be available.

PUNE: The Central Railway will extend the run of Pune-Nizamuddin weekly special trains, a Central Railway release said on Friday.

The 0478 Special will leave Nizamuddin at 8.55 am every Thursday from January 7 to March 25 and reach Pune at 11.05 am on the next day, Friday. On its return journey, the 0477 Special will leave Pune at 2.10 pm every Friday between January 8 and March 26 and reach Nizamuddin at 4.40 pm the next day, the release added.

Pune: The Pune Division of the Central Railway will extend the Pune-Nizamuddin and Sainagar Shirdi-Visakhapatnam special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers.

The 0478 Pune - Nizamuddin- Pune weekly special will leave Nizamuddin at 8.55 pm on Thursdays from January 7 to March 25 (12 trips) and reach Pune at 11.05 am the next day.

In the return direction, it will leave Pune at 2.10 pm on Fridays between January 8 and 26 (12 trips) and reach Nizamuddin at 2.40 pm the next day.

PUNE
: By the end of December, about 2,000 state transport buses starting from Swargate, Shivajinagar and Pimpri-Chinchwad bus depots will issue electronic format tickets to commuters. At present, such a service is available in approximately 60 per cent buses. Besides, the service will be extended to all the nine depots in the district in next four months.

PUNE: Passengers who had been scheduled to travel by the Pune-Mumbai Pragati Express on Sunday morning were in for a rude shock when the train was cancelled without prior notice.

Irate passengers strongly protested with the authorities against the cancellation.