The Char Dham Railway, the Indian Railways's under construction 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.[1][2]
Railway routes
The Char Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:
- A. Gangotri–Yamunotri spurs: Main spur will go to Gangotri which will also Y–fork for another spur to Yamunotri.
- A1. Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway 131 km long route will have the following 11 stations: Doiwala, Sangatiyawala Khurd, Sarangdharwala, Ampata, Maror, Kandisaur, Chinyalisaur, Dunda, Athali, Ladari and Maneri.[3] Pilgrims will road transport from Maneri to Harsil-Gangotri via NH-34. This will take the railway and Char Dham road highway at Gangotri closer to the large disputed India-China border area of Nelang Valley which is currently in India's operational control.[4][5] Maneri to Gangotri is further 84 km.
- A2. Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway, 22 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Athali from the Gangotri railway above to reach at Palar railway station from where pilgrims will wtake road and track to Yamunotri.[3] Palar to Yamunotri is further 42 km.
- B. Kedarnath–Badrinath spurs: Main spur will go to Kedarnath which will also Y–fork for another spur to Badrinath.
- B1. Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway 99 km long route will have the following 7 stations: Karnaprayag, Siwai, Saikot, Bairath, Chopta, Makkumath and Sonprayag. Pilgrims will walk 19 km from Sonprayag to Kedarnath[3]
- B2. Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway, 75 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Saikot from the Kedarnath railway above to Joshimath. It will have the following 4 stations: Saikot, Tripak, Tartoli and Joshimath. Pilgrims will walk 37 km from Joshimath to Badrinath.[3] This will take the railway and Char Dham road highway at Badrinath closer to the disputed valley on India-China border area of Bara Hoti which is currently in India's operational control.[5][6]
- Note: Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Railway is also an under construction new railway link extension from the exiting Rishikesh railway station to Karnaprayag. It will have the following 11 stations: Rishikesh, Shivpuri, Byasi, Devprayag, Maletha, Srinagar, Dhari, Rudraprayag, Gholtir, Gauchar, Karnaprayag.[3][7]
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
- Char Dham Highway
- Diamond Quadrilateral railway project
- Golden Quadrilateral road project
- Setu Bharatam railway crossing-free flyover and underpass project
- New geostrategic rail lines of India under construction
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chardham to get rail connectivity; Indian Railways pilgrimage linking project to cost Rs 43.29k crore, India.com, 12-May-2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Railway minister lays foundation stone for final location survey on char dham route, India Times news, 13-May-2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Good news for Chardham rail line, approved budget for this big work, Live Hindustan, 18 January 2018.
- ↑ 中印边境自卫反击作战史. 中国国防资讯网(2005-11-26).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Achilles Heel in India's Border Defence with China!, Indian Defence Review, 20 June 2017.
- ↑ After 24 years of work, strategic military outpost near India-China border connected with motorable road, Times of India, 11 Nov 2016.
- ↑ Coming soon: India’s longest railway tunnel on Rishikesh–Karnaprayag route, Hindustan Times news, 19-Sept-2016
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