The Char Dham Railway, the Indian Railways's under construction twin railway lines, will complement the

Char Dham Highway Char Dham National Highway, is an under construction two-lane (in each direction) express National Highway with a minimum width of 10 metres in the Indian state of Uttarakhand under Char Dham Pariyojana . The under construction highway will com ...

project by connecting the holiest places of Hinduism called Chota Char Dham, from the existing

Doiwala Doiwala is a town and a Nagar Palika in Dehradun district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. Geography Doiwala is located at . It has an average elevation of 485 metres (1,591 feet). The place comes under Doon Valley's Terai and B ...

railway station near

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

Gangotri Gangotri is a town and a ''Nagar Panchayat'' (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is 99 km from Uttarkashi, the main district headquarter. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi � ...

and

Yamunotri Yamunotri, also Jamnotri, is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna in Hinduism. It is situated at an altitude of in the Garhwal Himalayas and located approximately North of Uttarkashi, the headquarters of the Uttark ...

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 Saikot (Garhwali: सैकोट) is a village in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state in India. Situated on the banks of Alaknanda River, it is a proposed y-forked railway junction on Chota Char Dham Railway for two different railways goi ...

. The line is also of strategic military importance and has been designated a national project.Chardham to get rail connectivity; Indian Railways pilgrimage linking project to cost Rs 43.29k crore, India.com, 12-May-2017
/ref>Railway minister lays foundation stone for final location survey on char dham route, India Times news, 13-May-2017
/ref>

Railway routes

Existing railheads

At present, the relevant railway lines are as follows: *From the

Raiwala Junction railway station Raiwala Junction railway station is a railway station at Raiwala and junction to Dehradun and Rishikesh stations, it is a significant but small railway station in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Utt ...

, one line goes in north-west direction via Doiwala Railway Station and terminates in Dehradun; another line goes in north-east direction to terminate in Rishikesh (at the new

Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station is a railway station serving the city of Rishikesh in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It lies in the Northern railway network zone of Indian Railways. The station code is YNRK. History The Rishikesh–Kar ...

, the old

Rishikesh railway station Rishikesh railway station, station code RKSH, is a railway terminal station serving the city of Rishikesh in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It lies on Northern railway network zone of Indian Railways. It is no longer the only station in Rishik ...

being almost defunct). *The

Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line is an under-construction railway line, which will run from Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station in Rishikesh to Karnaprayag. It is Indian Railways' proposed route for the Char Dham Railway to connect the Char Dh ...

is already under construction, to extend the railway network beyond

, and upon completion, Karnaprayag will become the terminal point *The Chaar Dhaam Railway will consist of two different railway lines: **one taking off from the existing railhead at

and going towards

, with a fork towards

**the other taking off from the forthcoming railhead at Karnaprayag and going towards Kedarnath, with a fork towards Badrinath

Proposed new lines

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 The Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway, notified as the project of national strategic importance, is Indian Railways's one of the four constituent routes of the proposed Char Dham Railway connecting the holiest Chota Char ...

131 km long route will have the following 11 stations:

, Sangatiyawala Khurd, Sarangdharwala, Ampata, Maror, Kandisaur,

Chinyalisaur Nagar palika Chinyalisaur is a small town and tehsil headquarters in the Uttarkashi district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Geography Chinyalisaur is a semi-urban settlement. It is named after a nearby village called Chinyali. 'Saur' is ...

, Dunda, Athali Junction, Ladari and

Maneri Maneri is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Joe Maneri (1927–2009), American jazz musician and composer *Mat Maneri (born 1969), American jazz musician and composer * Sharafuddin Maneri (1263–1381), Indian Sufi mystic (Patna, ...

. Pilgrims will road transport from Maneri to Harsil-

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.Achilles Heel in India's Border Defence with China!
Indian Defence Review, 20 June 2017. Maneri to Gangotri is a further 84 km. ** A2.

Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway The Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway, notified as the project of national strategic importance, is Indian Railways's one of the four constituent routes of the proposed Char Dham Railway connecting the holiest Chota Char Dham of Hinduism. Thi ...

, 22 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Athali Junction from the Gangotri railway above to reach

Palar Palar is a river of southern India. It rises in the Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka state, and flows in Karnataka, in Andhra Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu before reaching its confluence into the Bay of Bengal at Vayalur abo ...

railway station, from where pilgrims will take road and track to

. Palar to Yamunotri is a 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 The Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway, notified as the project of national strategic importance, is Indian Railways's one of the four constituent routes of the proposed Char Dham Railway connecting the holiest Chota Char Dham ...

99 km long route will have the following 7 stations: Karnaprayag, Siwai,

Junction, Bairath, Chopta, Makkumath and Sonprayag near

Gaurikund Gauri Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage site and base camp for trek to Kedarnath Temple, in Uttarakhand, India.Page 224, Hill Resorts of U.P. Himalaya: A Geographical Study, By Nutan Tyagi, Published 1991 by Indus Publishing, It is situated at an alt ...

. The distance from Sonprayag to Kedarnath is 19 km. The 6 km stretch from Sonprayag to

is paved and motorable, whereas the remaining 13-14 km is a mountainous track, which must be done either on foot, or by palanquin, or on pony-back. ** B2.

Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway The Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway, notified as the project of national strategic importance, is Indian Railways's one of the four constituent routes of the proposed Char Dham Railway connecting the holiest Chota Char Dham of Hinduism. Th ...

, 75 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at

from the Kedarnath railway above to Joshimath. It will have the following 4 stations: Saikot Junction, Tripak, Tartoli and Joshimath. Pilgrims will travel the 37 km from Joshimath to Badrinath by the existing all-weather road. This will take the railway network closer to the disputed India-China border area of Bara Hoti valley, which is currently in India's operational control, and make it easier to supply equipment and troops to that border post.After 24 years of work, strategic military outpost near India-China border connected with motorable road
Times of India, 11 Nov 2016. * Note: Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Railway is also an under construction new railway link extension from the exiting

to Karnaprayag. It will have the following 11 stations:

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints meditati ...

, Shivpuri, Byasi, Devprayag, Maletha,

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

, Dhari, Rudraprayag, Gholtir,

Gauchar Gauchar is a Hill Town sort of a valley town located in Karnaprayag tehsil within Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state in India. Gauchar is situated on the left bank of river Alaknanda and is en route to the celebrated holy destination of Badrin ...

, Karnaprayag.Coming soon: India’s longest railway tunnel on Rishikesh–Karnaprayag route, Hindustan Times news, 19-Sept-2016
/ref>

Strategic importance

Once this railway line is completed,

India-China border The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment o ...

will be closer to the rest of India by

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. 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, Hassan–Mangalore line and

Jammu–Baramulla line The Jammu–Baramulla line is a railway track being laid to connect the Kashmir Valley in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir with Jammu railway station and thence to the rest of the country. The 356 km railway track will star ...

, 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.

Current status

Char Dham Railway project's 327 km long construction, costing

₹ The Indian rupee sign (₹) is the currency symbol for the Indian rupee (ISO 4217: INR), the official currency of India. Designed by D. Udaya Kumar, it was presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its select ...

43,292

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

(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. 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.Good news for Chardham rail line, approved budget for this big work
18 January 2018.

References

{{Railways in Northern India Rail transport in Uttarakhand * Proposed railway lines in India Modi administration initiatives