Pune: Railway Passengers Fume Amid Chronic Delays by Azad Hind Express 

Recurring tardiness of Pune’s Azad Hind Express sparks outrage among commuters, urgent calls for action made. 

May 3, 2024

By Payoshi Bisht

Passengers boarding the Azad Hind Express from Pune Railway Station are facing mounting frustration and inconvenience as the train’s chronic delays continue to disrupt travel plans and important life events. Scheduled to depart at 6:35 pm on Thursday, 2nd May, the train’s departure was pushed back a staggering 13 hours, finally leaving at 7:35 am on Friday, 3rd May. This delay is just one in a series of tardiness plaguing the service.

On 1st May, the train departed 11 hours behind schedule, while on 30th April, it left over 5 hours late, compounding the frustration of passengers who rely on the service for timely travel. One such passenger, Deven Shinde, took to social media on 29th April to express his exasperation after enduring over 35 hours of travel, causing him to miss his brother’s wedding due to the train’s prolonged delay.

The increasing number of railway passengers are finding it difficult as railways are arriving and departing late. Of late, the trains in North India are reaching and departing late also due to the Kisan Morcha, mainly in the Punjab section.

In another incident, a resident of Pune, a Pune Pulse reader named Salma Ghasia, and her husband, along with numerous other passengers including army jawans looking forward to a holiday, found themselves stranded for a harrowing 15 hours aboard the Jhelum Express, train number 11078. The ordeal began when the train, scheduled to depart from Jammu Tawi on 30th April at 11:40 PM, was already delayed by one hour. To compound matters, it got diverted from its usual route through Ludhiana due to the ongoing Kissan Andolan in Punjab/Haryana.

In a recent post made by former passenger Sukanto Sengupta on his X handle, it was revealed that the 12129 Azad Hind Express, originally scheduled to depart from Pune at 6:35 PM, encountered yet another significant delay of 11 hours. Consequently, the new estimated departure time was adjusted to 5:35 AM on 2nd May. Sengupta expressed a sarcastic congratulation to the Minister and Bharatiya Railways for their seemingly consistent ability to maintain a delay of at least 10 hours or more in both directions for this train. 

Additionally, he highlighted the lack of information provided to passengers regarding the delay, indicating a concerning oversight in communication.

A recent tweet on X by the Divisional Railway Manager — Pune Division Central Railway read that, “Departure of Train No. 12129, the PUNE-HWH Azad Hind Express, originally scheduled to depart from PUNE at 18:35 hrs on 02/05/2024, has been rescheduled. It will now depart at 07:35 hrs on 03/05/2024 from PUNE. This rescheduling is due to the late running of the incoming pairing rake. We deeply regret any inconvenience caused by this change.”

As frustration mounts among commuters, calls for accountability and improvements of the punctuality of the Azad Hind Express are growing louder, highlighting the urgent need for reliable and efficient rail services to meet the needs of passengers in Pune and beyond.