The Minister of railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Wednesday
replied in Loksabha to the unstarred question put by Member of Parliament Shri Anil Baluni and Shri Ajay Bhatt  regarding the Railway Projects in Uttarakhand.

The Union Minister replied that Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in Uttarakhand is as under: Period- 2009-14, Outlay- Rs 187 Crore/year and Period- 2025-26, Outlay- Rs 4,641 Crore (nearly 25 times).

As on 01.04.2025, 03 New Lines, covering total length of 216 Km costing   Rs 40,384 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Uttarakhand are sanctioned, out of which 16  Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 19,898 crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summarized details are as under:- 

Category: New Lines, Number of Projects: 03, Total Length: 216 km, Length Commissioned: 16 km, Expenditure up to March 2025: Rs 19,898 crore

To provide rail connectivity to Chardham, Rishikesh-Karnaprayag new rail line project (125 km) has been sanctioned.

The project alignment passes through Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudrapryag and Chamoli Districts of Uttarakhand and will provide rail connectivity to Devprayag and Karnaprayag religious and tourist spots with Rishikesh and National Capital of India. 

The alignment of the project predominantly passes through tunnels. The project involves construction of 16 Main line tunnels of 104 km length and 12 Escape tunnels of about 98 km length. So far, Main line tunnels of 99 km length and 09 Escape Tunnels of over 94 km length have been completed. 

To increase progress of works, 08 Adits in various tunnels were also identified. These adits created additional work faces of tunnel excavation expediting early completion of long tunnels. Works of all 8 Adits (5 km) have also been completed.

The project also involves construction of 19 Important/Major Bridges. 8 out of 19 Important/Major Bridges have also been completed. Works in balance bridges have also been taken up.
Section wise progress of the project is as under:

S.N. 1 – Virbhadra–Yog Nagari Rishikesh (4.7 km)
Status of Tunnels: Already completed and commissioned.

S.N. 2 – Yog Nagari Rishikesh–Shivpuri (13.4 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (10.8 km) – 94% excavation completed; lining taken up.
Status of Major Bridges: There is 01 major bridge in this section, which has been completed.

S.N. 3 – Shivpuri–Byasi (14.3 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (12.7 km) – 01 out of 02 tunnels completed; excavation of 2nd tunnel completed; lining taken up.
Status of Major Bridges: There are 02 major bridges in this section. Both have been completed.

S.N. 4 – Byasi–Devprayag (15 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (13.3 km) – 03 out of 04 tunnels completed; 69% excavation of 4th tunnel completed; lining taken up.
Status of Major Bridges: There are 04 major bridges in this section. All 4 bridges have been completed.

S.N. 5 – Devprayag–Janasu (14.8 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (14.6 km) – Completed.

S.N. 6 – Janasu–Maletha (4.7 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (2.9 km) – Completed.
Status of Major Bridges: There is 01 major bridge in this section, which has been completed.

S.N. 7 – Maletha–Srinagar (5.2 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (4.1 km) – Completed.

S.N. 8 – Srinagar–Dhari Devi (11.2 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (9.1 km) – Excavation completed; lining taken up.
Status of Major Bridges: There are 03 major bridges in this section. 1 bridge has been completed and work for other 2 bridges has been taken up.

S.N. 9 – Dhari Devi–Tilani (Rudraprayag) (17.6 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (16.6 km) – Excavation completed; lining taken up.
Status of Major Bridges: There is 01 major bridge in this section, which has been taken up.

S.N. 10 – Tilani (Rudraprayag)–Gholtir (7.6 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (6.6 km) – 79% excavation completed.
Status of Major Bridges: There are 02 major bridges in this section. Work for both bridges has been taken up.

S.N. 11 – Gholtir–Gauchar (7.8 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (7.1 km) – Excavation completed; lining taken up.

S.N. 12 – Gauchar–Karnprayag (8.4 km)
Status of Tunnels: Tunnel (6.3 km) – Excavation completed; lining taken up.
Status of Major Bridges: There are 03 major bridges in this section. Work for all 3 bridges has been taken up.

Further Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw added, extend the rail connectivity to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, survey has been completed. However, the project alignment lies near the main Central thrust of Himalayas which is highly seismically active.   

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following- Land acquisition,Forest clearance, Shifting of infringing utilities, Statutory clearances from various authorities, Geological and topographical conditions of area, Law and order situation in the area of project site, Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

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