The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line project in Uttarakhand has achieved 65 per cent physical progress, with an expenditure of ₹ 24,645 crore incurred against an estimated total cost of ₹ 38,953 crore.
The 125 km broad-gauge line is one of the most challenging railway projects being executed by Indian Railways, as the alignment passes entirely through the Himalayan region.
The project is designed to significantly improve rail connectivity in the Garhwal region and strengthen links to key religious and tourist destinations in the state.
The railway line is also of strategic importance as it provides rail connectivity to Chamoli district, which shares a border with China.
The alignment passes through Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli districts. Once completed, the line will connect Rishikesh with Devprayag and Karnaprayag, improving access from the National Capital Region to interior parts of Uttarakhand.
A major portion of the project involves tunnelling work due to the mountainous terrain.
The rail line includes 16 main line tunnels with a combined length of about 105 km, along with 12 escape tunnels spanning nearly 98 km.
In addition, around 10 km of adits and cross passages have been constructed to speed up excavation.
According to the monthly project monitoring flash report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) for the month of November, the strategic rail line project has now crossed 65 per cent physical progress.
As per information provided by the government in Parliament earlier this year, 13 main line tunnels and 9 escape tunnels on the project have been completed, while tunnelling of over 200 km has been achieved against a total scope of 213 km.
Under this project, for the first time in Himalayan railway construction, Tunnel Boring Machines have been deployed for the execution of the longest tunnel on the route, which is approximately 14.8 km long. The breakthrough of twin tunnels using TBMs has already been achieved, marking a key engineering milestone for the project.
