Indian Railways is working at a fast pace to connect less connected states of India. Taking this forward, on Saturday, the Ministry of Railways shared the progress report of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Project in Uttarakhand.
Overall, the project has achieved 33 per cent progress. Tunnelling work is 83 km completed. The route of the project starts from Yog Nagari Rishikesh (385 m AMSL). It ends at Karnaprayag (825 m AMSL).
“Breakthrough of two drives of the main and escape tunnels completed,” informed the ministry. Two important rail bridges and three road bridges are also completed.
In this project, a new 125 km long broad gauge rail line is being laid in this hilly state of India. Out of this 125 km rail line, 104 km will be through tunnels. There will be 17 tunnels and 18 bridges, informed the ministry. When the project will be complete, the distance between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag will be reduced to 2 hours from the present 7 hours.
Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Project will have 12 railway stations
The railway stations will be – Yog Nagari Rishikesh in Rishikesh, Dehradun district, Srinagar, Tehri, Shivpuri and Byasi in Tehri district, Dungripanth and Devprayag (Dhari devi) in Pauri, Gholtir and Rudraprayag in Rudraprayag district, and Karanprayag and Gaucher in Chamoli district.
As per reports, the operating speed of the trains would be 100 km/h (62 mph).
The strategic importance of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Project
To discourage China’s expansion plans, the rail line is also part of India’s geostrategic initiative to build infrastructure along the India-China border. In case of any untoward happening, the government will be able to rapidly move troops to the India-China border.
Considered to be of national strategic importance, it is being tracked on the PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) portal of the Government of India (GOI).