India, Dec. 6 -- The Union railway ministry has formally taken over the long-pending Pune-Nashik semi high-speed railway project and approved a new alignment that diverts the line through Shirdi in Ahilyanagar district (Ahmednagar), instead of Sangamner. The announcement, made in Parliament by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, has sparked sharp opposition in Sangamner, where local political leaders have called for a public agitation to restore the original route.

The project has been in the works for over five years, initially led by the Maharashtra Railway Infrastructure Development Corporation (Maharail), which was appointed in 2021 to execute the 236-km line designed for trains running up to 200 kmph. The project cost was then estima...