Char Dham Railway Project Will Provide Affordable and Easy Access for Devotees
Indian Railways is working on a much-awaited Char Dham Railway project to connect Char Dham sites in Uttarakhand through a 327 km long railway line. Devotees will be able to travel to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand by rail. Railways Char Dham project will lay four rail lines to connect these holy sites. The railway line will join the holy place of Gangotri and Yamunotri. At the same time, Badrinath and Kedarnath will be connected by the Rishikesh-Karnparyag Rail line.
Rail News: Railways have stepped up preparations to connect the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand with the rail route. Railway Ministry has completed the survey for Char Dham Railway dream project of PM Modi. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that crores of devotees would soon be able to travel to Char Dham via Indian Railways. He has said in a tweet that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the railway is going to make Char Dham Yatra easy for crores of devotees. He said that devotees will now be able to travel by rail to visit Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath situated in the holy plains of Uttarakhand.
Railways Completed the Survey for Char Dham Project
The central government is making arrangements to connect the Char Dham region with this rail project. The work on the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project to connect the Badrinath and Kedarnath Dham area by rail has been started rapidly. Construction of one railway station and few tunnels has been completed. Construction of five tunnels is underway. Serious efforts have also begun on the project of transporting rail for Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham to Uttarkashi. The survey of the railway project from Doiwala to Uttarkashi and Barkot has been completed.
Char Dham Railway Project Completion Date
Char Dham yatra has special significance in the Hindu religion. Modi government is working on the Railways Char Dham project so that devotees can reach these holy shrines easily. Under this project, work will be done to connect the four sacred places with the rail route. Indian Railways will lay four rail lines in the inaccessible areas of Uttarakhand to connect Char Dham with the rail route, whose total length will be 327 kilometres. Char Dham railway line will pass through Dehradun, Pauri, Tehri Garhwal, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi. According to Railways officials, the entire work for this Rail route is estimated to be completed by 2025.
Railways Char Dham Project Will Provide Affordable and Easy Access to Devotees
It is estimated to cost 44,000 crores rupees to connect Char Dham with the railway network. The government will connect the Char Dham Yatra route through various modes of transport to provide cheap and easy transport facility to Char Dham. It includes Railroad, Vernacular Rail, Ropeway and Road transport. Indian Railways will construct two rail lines to connect the Char Dham holy sites Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Kedarnath. First railway line will join the section of Gangotri and Yamunotri while the second railway line will connect Badrinath and Kedarnath.
Doiwala Railway Line Will Connect the Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham
To reach Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham, the Doiwala railway line will be connected near Dehradun. This railway line will go to Gangotri and Yamunotri via Uttarkashi. The Doiwala Uttarkashi Barkot railway line will be 122 km long, on which a cost of 24,000 crores rupees is estimated. Officials of Railway Development Corporation Limited gave the presentation of the project. It was informed that the survey of the railway project started in March 2018. The review has now been completed.
Ten stations will be built under the rail project. Twenty-four tunnels and 19 bridges will be made. The economic activity in the state will be the biggest beneficiary of this railway project. The railway line will also help in promoting tourism in Uttarakhand and for the marketing of agricultural, horticulture and local products.
Rishikesh-Karnprayag Rail project will connect with Kedarnath and Badrinath
The Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project is the most ambitious rail project of Indian Railways. A 126 km long railway line is to be laid from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag (Sevai), while in the meantime, 11 new railway stations are also to be built. The construction of the first railway station Yognagari Rishikesh has been completed. The work on this rail line project is going on at a fast rate, and all project packages of this line will be allotted before December.
Work will start on the entire 125 km long rail route. A total of 12 railway stations will be built between Rishikesh to Karnprayag railway line. These stations are Virabhadra, Rishikesh, Shivpuri, Beas, Devprayag, Srinagar, Maletha, Dhari Devi, Gholtir, Gauchar, and Karnprayag.
80% Part of Rishikesh-Karnprayag Rail Line Will Be in the Tunnel
Many tunnels will be built under this project. The longest 15.01 km tunnel will be between Saud of Devprayag to Janasu. After construction, it will be the longest railway tunnel in the country. The total length of the Rishikesh Karnaprayag railway line is 125.20 km. Its 105.47 km section will be inside tunnels. Railway Development Corporation will also construct the escape tunnel along the original track for safety purposes. The train will run at a speed of 100 km per hour on the Rishikesh Karnprayag railway track. The speed limit for the goods train will be 65 km per hour. The Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety has set the speed limit by trialling the engine in Rishikesh.
Also Read: World’s First Electrified Rail Tunnel Will Be Ready in a Year by Indian Railways
Construction of Tunnel on Switzerland and Austria Technology
The New Austrian Tunneling (NATM) method of rail tunnelling is used in the snowy mountains of Switzerland and Austria. The tunnels which will be constructed between Rishikesh-Karnaprayag will be built on the same technique. The most massive tunnel will be 15.1 kilometres long, which will be 47.6 kilometres long from Rishikesh. According to the ecology of the Himalayas, railways have designed the track in such a way that the fast running train can reach its destination safely. This technique has been used in tunnel construction in Andhra Pradesh.
Importance of Char Dham Yatra
Char Dham has special significance in Hinduism. These Char Dhams are said to be very sacred, and their visit is considered to provide salvation. It is believed that a Hindu who visits these Char Dham gets rid of the bondage of life and death and finally gets liberation. Badrinath Dham is the holy abode of Lord Vishnu. Here they are also called Badri Vishal. It is believed that here Lord Vishnu did penance in the form of Nar-Narayan. Kedarnath Dham is the land of Lord Shiva, and it is one of the “Panch Kedars”. Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham are sacred and life-saving sites of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers.
It takes about 15 days for devotees to travel to Char Dham. After the construction of this railway route, it will take only 3 to 4 days for the passengers to reach it. The distance of Rishikesh-Karnprayag will be completed in just two hours. Initially, the train will run on this route with a diesel engine. Later, electric locomotives will be used to run trains, which will speed up the trains.
Also Read: 10 Epic Ramayana Places That You Need to Visit Once in Your Life
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