PUNE: The Pune-Nashik railway project has entered another phase of uncertainty as land acquisition has begun for a separate 95.059-km double-line project between Nashik Road and Sainagar Shirdi, even as an expert panel examines whether the original Pune-Nashik alignment can still be pursued. The overlap has raised questions about sequencing, land-use planning and the long-term shape of rail connectivity across Maharashtra.
A Central Railway notification published in August declares the intention to acquire about 95.14 hectares for the Nashik Road-Sainagar Shirdi project. The notified land includes private and government holdings across villages in Rahata and Kopargaon talukas. The notification also provides affected parties a statutory period to raise objections before the acquisition process advances. The development is significant because the state government has separately appointed an expert committee headed by a senior scientist to reassess the original Pune-Nashik semi-high-speed rail alignment. The panel has been asked to examine whether the route can be retained while protecting the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at Khodad near Narayangaon. Possible engineering solutions include elevated sections, limited realignment and tunnelling, according to the government’s stated terms of reference.
The original corridor was conceived as a faster rail connection between Pune and Nashik, with potential benefits for workers, businesses, students and freight movement. However, concerns around the radio-quiet zone surrounding the astronomical facility became a major constraint. The dispute subsequently shifted towards alternative alignments, leaving several communities along the originally proposed corridor concerned about losing a direct rail connection. The latest land notification does not itself settle the future of the Pune-Nashik railway project. In fact, the Union government has separately identified Nashik Road-Sainagar Shirdi as a Special Railway Project, while railway authorities have been progressing surveys and detailed project reports for several corridors in Maharashtra. The Railway Ministry has also stated that project sanction remains subject to consultations and statutory and financial approvals. For the Pune-Nashik rail corridor, the larger issue is therefore not simply where tracks will be laid. Land acquisition can reshape farming areas, settlement patterns and future development values long before trains begin operating. A fragmented approach could also produce competing infrastructure investments instead of a coordinated regional network.
Urban planners say the eventual decision should weigh connectivity, environmental constraints, agricultural land, settlement impacts and the needs of communities along each alignment. For a growing economic region linking Pune, Nashik and the Ahilyanagar belt, clarity on the rail network is increasingly important for both mobility and responsible land development. The expert panel’s findings will be closely watched. Its assessment could determine whether the Pune-Nashik rail corridor can move forward with modifications or whether Maharashtra’s future connectivity strategy will increasingly rely on alternative routes.
