Char Dham Railway


The Char Dham Railway Indian Railways's upcoming twin railway lines, will complement the Char Dham Highway project by connecting the holiest places of Hinduism called Chota Char Dham, from the existing Doiwala railway station near Dehradun to Gangotri and Yamunotri via a fork at Uttarkashi and another set of twin rail links from the upcoming railway station at Karnaprayag to Kedarnath and Badrinath via a fork at Saikot. The line is also of strategic military importance and has been designated a national project.

Railway routes

The Char Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:
Once this railway line is completed, India-China border will be closer to the rest of India by railway. The time taken to reach the strategic border military stations from Delhi will be reduced by providing safe and quick mode of public transport for personnel and equipment.

Challenges

After the Konkan Railway and Jammu–Baramulla line, this line will be the most challenging railway project in Indian Railways due to high mountains, a large number of tunnels and high bridges and severe cold weather in flood, landslide and earthquake prone high altitude mountainous area.

Current status

Char Dham Railway project's 327 km long construction, costing INR ₹43,292 crore, began with the foundation stone laying and commencement of INR ₹120 crore Final Location Survey in May 2017 by the Union Railway minister Suresh Prabhu. In January 2018, Reconnaissance Survey was complete, and Final Survey using airborne electromagnetic technique was underway by Turkish-Ukrainian company, which will be completed in 2 years, after which track laying would begin in December 2019. As of July, 2020 New Rishikesh railway station is ready and operational. Bridge over Chandrabhaga river is being laid. Also a bridge over Alaknanda river in Tehri is under construction. Both these bridges will be ready by 2021 as per plan. Land for all railway stations is acquired and work is going on in small phases over the entire route.