Char Dham Railway Project: India's Longest Railway Tunnel To Be Built With Rs 23,000 Crore In Uttarakhand

The longest railway tunnel in India, spanning 14 kilometres between Devprayag and Janasu, will be part of the ambitious 125km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag broad gauge line.

A 125.20 km railway line connecting Rishikesh and Karnaprayag will stretch across five districts of the state: Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Chamoli. Devprayag, Srinagar, Gauchar, Rudraprayag, and Karnaprayag are the most important towns on the route.

Om Prakash Malgudi, senior project manager for Railway Vikas Nigam Limited, announced on Monday that the track would begin at Virbhadra, close to Rishikesh (29 August). According to him, the project's initial budget of Rs 16,216 crore is revised to Rs 23,000 crore.

Eleven more stations will be located between Virbhadra and Karnaprayag. There will be tunnels and bridges along about 105 km of the track.

State-owned Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) is executing this 125 km long railway line.

The railway line will play the arterial connectivity role to the region's people fighting against out-migration. It will bring a decisive change in the outlook of the people of the area towards themselves, their livelihood and related options, and access to Rishikesh and Dehradun, two essential destinations for them.

The project will also provide rail link connectivity between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag and boost the tourism sector by easing the access to pilgrimage centres of Uttarakhand.

RVNL has also been tasked with undertaking the rail connectivity to Char Dham — Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. The Karnprayag project has thrown open the field for progress in the Char Dham project.