From Rishikesh to Karnprayag
Similarly, finances for development of rail infrastructure for strategic regions such as the North-East, J&K and now backward areas such as Uttarakhand are being made available from the central exchequer to lift the economic development of these regions.
With over R10,000 crore worth of 26 project already completed since its inception in 2003, RVNL has a string of 65 projects in the pipeline, the latest and one of the most ambitious being a 125-km-long line to connect Rishikesh to Karnprayag in Uttarakhand.
The cost, roughly estimated at R4,500 crore, may see a substantial rise once the final alignment is worked out after field survey.
The line may be extended beyond, and eventually reach Badrinath, which is 300 km away by road from Rishikesh.
Since the extremely difficult terrain would need a large number of bridges and tunnels, alternative alignments are being explored to curtail cost.
Unlike the other hill railways such as the Kalka-Shimla, Siliguri-Darjeeling, and Mettupalyam- Udhagamandalam, served by a narrow gauge track, the proposed broad gauge alignment may not be able to follow the hill’s contours as it needs much larger curves (less than 4 degrees) and limited gradients (not more than 1 in 100), resulting in a comparatively larger number of tunnels and bridges.
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