This will soon be solved as the construction for the new divisional railway manger (DRM) building began in earnest in December. However, the wait for this new campus will go on for another 18 long months. “This new set up adjacent to the Hotel Le Meridien will be spread over 95,000 square feet at an expenditure of Rs 8.75 crore,” said a senior railway official.

When the Pune division was started in 1996, it consisted of the 63 km Pune Lonavala section. The railway staff was accommodated at the building of the Indian Railway Institute of Civil Engineering (IRICE), adjacent to the railway station. In 2003, the jurisdiction of the division was increased to add Pune - Baramati (excluding Daund) and Pune-Kolhapur sections. “In April 2003, five departments were shifted to the cement godown at Maal Dhaka chowk. This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement till a new place for the DRM was found and constructed,” said railway PRO Yogendra K Singh.

This temporary accommodation stretched itself for more than four years. “In the beginning, the idea was to shift the IRICE to Koregaon Park and accommodate the entire Pune division here close to the railway station. This plan fell through in May 2003, as we needed some defence land, which did not work out,” said Singh.

In July 2004, officials zeroed in on two plots — adjacent to hotel Le Meridian or at the nearby Railgaon. Two years later in 2006, the railways decided to go with the former at Raja Bahadur Mill Road. In 2003, the cost estimation was Rs 7.39 crore.