Rajya Sabha member Dhananjay Mahadik presses for Kolhapur-Mumbai sleeper Vande Bharat

Kolhapur: Rajya Sabha member Dhananjay Mahadik has urged Centre to introduce a nighttime sleeper Vande Bharat train between Kolhapur and Mumbai, operating all seven days of the week. He also pressed for extending the Kolhapur-Mumbai Sahyadri Express, which runs as a special service only up to Pune, further to Mumbai."The Vande Bharat Express currently leaves Kolhapur only three days a week and terminates at Pune. It should run daily and be extended till Mumbai. For the convenience of passengers, the train should depart from Kolhapur at night and reach Mumbai early morning," Mahadik said in Parliament on Wednesday.He said despite strong passenger demand on the Kolhapur-Mumbai route, the number of trains was reduced during the Covid period. "The Sahyadri Express must be extended to Mumbai," he said, adding that there was heavy two-way passenger movement between Kolhapur and Mumbai every day, but train services remained inadequate. "Increasing the frequency of trains on this route would greatly benefit commuters travelling for work, business, tourism and religious purposes, eventually contributing to Kolhapur's growth," he said.A delegation from the Sangli Zilla Nagrik Jagruti Manch met Central Railway's Pune divisional railway manager Rajesh Verma on Wednesday to submit a charter of demands related to Sangli station. Satish Sakhalkar of the organisation said they sought several new services, including the Nagpur-Sangli Vande Bharat Express, SangliChennai Express (via Hubballi), Sangli-Visakhapatnam/Puri Express (via Pandharpur, Solapur, Secunderabad/Hyderabad), Sangli-Thiruvananthapuram Express (via Londa, Madgaon/Goa), Sangli-Nizamabad Express (via Latur), and Sangli-Howrah Express (via Latur, Nagpur, Raipur).