Chota Char Dham Railway
| Haridwar-Doiwala-Yumnotri-Gangotri; Haridwar-Rishikesh-Saikot-Kedarnath-Badrinath छोटा चार धाम रेलवे |
|
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| System | Broad Gauge |
| Status | Proposed |
| Locale | Uttrakhand |
| Termini | Start at Doiwala for Yamunotri and Gangotri routes, Start at Karanprayag for Kedarnath and Badrinath routes End at Palar for Yamunotri, End at Maneri for Gangotri, End at Sonprayag for Kedarnath route, End at Joshimath for Badrinath route |
| Services | Two separate Y-fork railways with a total of four individual routes |
| Website | http://www.indianrailways.gov.in |
| Operation | |
| Operator(s) | Indian Railways |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 327 km (203 mi) |
| Track length | 327 km (203 mi) |
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6.0 in) |
| Highest elevation | 1,733 m (5,686 ft) |
The Chota Char Dham railway is Indian Railways's proposed twin railway lines, will compliment the Chardham Road Highway project by connecting the holiest places of Hinduism called Chota Char Dham, from the existing Doiwala station near Dehradun to Gangotri and Yamunotri via a fork at Uttarkashi and another set of twin rail links from the upcoming railway station at Karanprayag to Kedarnath and Badrinath via a fork at Saikot. The line is also of strategic military importance and has designated a national project.
The Chota Char Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:
Rishikesh-Karanprayag Railway is also an under construction new railway link extension from the exiting Rishikesh railway station to Karanprayag.
Once this railway line is completed, India-China border will be closer to the rest of India by railway. 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.
After the Konkan Railway and Kashmir Railway, this line will be the most challenging railway project in Indian Railways due to high mountains, a large number of tunnels and high bridges and severe cold weather in flood, landslide and earthquake prone high altitude mountainous area.
Chota Char Dham Railway project's 321 km long construction, costing INR43,292 crore (US$6.6 billion), began with the foundation stone laying and commencement of INR120 crore Final Location Survery (FSL) in May 2017 by the Union Railway minister Suresh Prabhu.
...
Wikipedia