“If the Railway Ministry remains unmoved like it has done all these years, both the MPs should seek the intervention of the Lok Sabha Speaker. I am sure only pressure from all sides will make the railway ministry move. Otherwise Pune commuters will continue to suffer like what has been happening for decades now,” Bhaldar said. He said though the population of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad has doubled in all these years, the number of local trains have remained what they used to be. Currently, four EMUs make 40 trips between Lonavala and Pune. One local train is available only after a gap of one to one-and-half hours.

Calling for aggressive initiative, Harsha Shah, president of the Railway Pravasi Sangh said both Adhalrao and Babar should not rest till they get local trains for Pune. “This is the issue which has been agitating lakhs of citizens. No people’s representative has taken up the issue seriously. Neither has the Central Railway officials,” she said. Shah said there should be a local train every five minutes to Pune-Daund-Bigwan, Pune to Nira besides Pune-Lonavala.

Rutuja Awagad, a resident of Paud Road, said if in Mumbai they can run a local train every two to three minutes, what is stopping the Central Railways from doing the same in Pune. “Why are Pune commuters being made to suffer for no fault of theirs. The railways should step forward to ease the plight of the commuters,” she said.