Char Dham Railway

The Char Dham Railway, the Indian Railways's under construction twin railway lines under Char Dham Pariyojana 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.[1][2]

Char Dham Railway
Overview
StatusUnder-construction
LocaleUttarakhand
Termini
Websitehttp://www.indianrailways.gov.in
Service
SystemBroad Gauge
ServicesTwo separate Y-fork railways with a total of four individual routes
Operator(s)Indian Railways
Technical
Line length327 km (203 mi)
Track length327 km (203 mi)
Track gauge1,676 mm (5 ft 6.0 in)
Electrification25kV OHE
Operating speed110 kmph
Highest elevation1,733 m (5,686 ft)

Railway routes

Existing railheads

At present, the relevant railway lines are as follows:

Proposed new lines

The Char Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:

Strategic importance

Once this railway line is completed, India-China border will be closer to the rest of India by railways. 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.[1]

Challenges

After the Konkan Railway, Hassan–Mangalore line and Jammu–Baramulla line, this line will be the most challenging railway project in Indian Railways due to mountainous terrain, a large number of tunnels and high bridges and severe cold weather in flood, landslide and earthquake prone high altitude mountainous area.[1][2]

Current status

Char Dham Railway project's 327 km long construction, costing 43,292 crore (USD $6.6 billion), began with the foundation stone laying and commencement of ₹120 crore Final Location Survey (FSL) in May 2017 by the Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu.[1][2] 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.[3]

See also

References

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