There is no comparison with the busy Pune-Lonavla route, where commuters get one train every hour in the morning and one every 90 minutes in the evening.

But now, a Pune local every 15 minutes could be a possibility, says Divisional Railway Manager D K Jain.

At present, four electric multiple units (EMUs), better known as local trains, shuttle 40 times between Pune and Lonavala every day, catering to about one lakh commuters.

“We have drawn up a plan to run local trains between Pune and Lonavla every 15 minutes during selected hours,” says Jain. “During peak hours, in the morning and evening, one train every 15 minutes can be run,” said Jain. But commuters are not satisfied. Harsha Shah, president of the Railway Pravasi Sangh says, “Why 15 minutes? Why not one train every five minutes?”

“If railways have the will, they can do it by rescheduling long distance trains and implementing commuter-specific programmes. If a local train is available every five minutes, I am sure our roads will witness less traffic jams and fewer accidents,” she said.

The Central Railway plan, however, hinges on completion of the automatic signalling system and conversion from DC (direct current) system to AC (alternative current).

“Compared to AC, DC system is less efficient, as there is extra energy consumption. DC system is maintenance-prone and can't take extra load. On the other hand, AC system is more efficient and scores over DC system on several counts,” says Jain.

Both projects are likely to be completed by March 31 next year.

According to Jain, once the automatic signalling and DC-to-AC conversion work are over, they would look at the possibility of completion of electrification work so that local trains could be run directly between Lonavala and Daund. “This might take two years.”

Senior railway officials were not satisfied with the pace of work. “Both the projects should have been completed by now. We are not happy with the pace of work,” an official said.