The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project has reached another milestone, with Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) achieving the final breakthrough of Escape Tunnel-1 on September 11, 2026. At 10.847 km, the tunnel is the second-longest on the project.
The latest breakthrough takes the total number of tunnel breakthroughs on the 125-km rail line to 41.
The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project is being built through the mountainous terrain of Uttarakhand and will connect Rishikesh with Karnaprayag, bringing rail connectivity closer to several parts of the Himalayan region.
41st tunnel breaks through difficult Himalayan rock
Escape Tunnel-1 passes through some of the toughest rock formations along the route. The tunnel has been built through highly fractured and faulted rocks, with some sections facing heavy shearing and rock crushing.
These conditions make tunnelling work more challenging, as the rock can be heavily broken and unstable in places. This makes the latest breakthrough an important step in the construction of the railway through Uttarakhand’s mountainous terrain.
Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project: Length, Cost
The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag new railway line is around 125 km long and has an estimated cost of about Rs 37,000 crore. The alignment will pass through five Uttarakhand districts. The project was sanctioned in the Union Budget 2010-11.
The project includes 16 main-line tunnels covering around 104 km and 12 escape tunnels with a combined length of about 98 km. It will also have 19 important and major bridges.
Most of the tunnelling work is already complete
According to the Ministry of Railways, as of July 2026, the project had completed 101 km of the 104-km main-line tunnelling work and more than 95 km of the 98-km escape tunnels. The project also involves 19 important and major bridges, of which 11 had been completed by then.
The project has also used eight adits, or additional access points, to create extra work faces for tunnel excavation.
According to the ministry, work on all eight adits, covering about 5 km, had been completed. These additional access points helped speed up excavation of the long tunnels.
Better rail connectivity to Uttarakhand’s Himalayan region
The 125-km railway line will pass through five districts — Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Chamoli. It will connect Rishikesh with Devprayag and Karnaprayag, bringing rail connectivity closer to several parts of Uttarakhand’s Himalayan region.
For passengers, the project is expected to make travel towards the hill districts easier by providing a rail link to areas that currently depend heavily on road connectivity.
The line will also improve access to religious and tourist destinations, reduce travel time and support tourism and economic activity in the region.