# Char Dham Railway

The Char Dham Railway, the Indian Railways's under construction twin railway lines under Char Dham Pariyojana project by connecting the holiest places of Hinduism called Chota Char Dham, from the existing Doiwala railway 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 Karnaprayag to Kedarnath and Badrinath via a fork at Saikot. The line is also of strategic military importance and has been designated a national project.

## Railway routes
### Existing railheads

At present, the relevant railway lines are as follows:
* From the Raiwala Junction railway station, one line goes in the north-west direction via Doiwala Railway Station and terminates in Dehradun; another line goes in the north-east direction to terminate in Rishikesh (at the new Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station, the old Rishikesh railway station being almost defunct).
* The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line is already under construction, to extend the railway network beyond Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station, and upon completion, Karnaprayag will become the terminal point
* The Char Dham Railway will consist of two different railway lines:
** one taking off from the existing railhead at Doiwala and going towards Gangotri, with a fork towards Yamunotri
** the other taking off from the forthcoming railhead at Karnaprayag and going towards Kedarnath, with a fork towards Badrinath

### New lines in the project

The Char Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:
* A. Gangotri–Yamunotri spurs: Main spur will go to Gangotri which will also Y–fork for another spur to Yamunotri.
** A1. Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway 131 km long route will have the following 11 stations: Doiwala, Sangatiyawala Khurd, Sarangdharwala, Ampata, Maror, Kandisaur, Chinyalisaur, Dunda, Athali Junction, Ladari and Maneri. Pilgrims will use the road transport from Maneri to Harsil-Gangotri via NH-34. This will take the railway and Char Dham road highway at Gangotri closer to the large disputed India-China border area of Nelang Valley which is currently in India's operational control. Maneri to Gangotri is further 84 km.
** A2. Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway (spurt from A1), 22 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Athali Junction from the Gangotri railway above to reach Palar railway station, from where pilgrims will take road and track to Yamunotri. Palar to Yamunotri is a further 42 km.
* B. Kedarnath–Badrinath spurs: Main spur will go to Kedarnath which will also Y–fork for another spur to Badrinath.
** B1. Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway 99 km long route will have the following 7 stations: Karnaprayag, Siwai, Saikot Junction, Bairath, Chopta, Makkumath and Sonprayag near Gaurikund. The distance from Sonprayag to Kedarnath is 19 km. The 6 km stretch from Sonprayag to Gaurikund is paved and motorable, whereas the remaining 13-14 km is a mountainous track, which must be done either on foot, or by palanquin, or on pony-back.
** B2. Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway (spur from B1), 75 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Saikot from the Kedarnath railway above to Joshimath. It will have the following 4 stations: Saikot Junction, Tripak, Tartoli and Joshimath. Pilgrims will travel the 37 km from Joshimath to Badrinath by the existing all-weather road. This will take the railway network closer to the disputed India-China border area of Bara Hoti valley, which is currently in India's operational control, and make it easier to supply equipment and troops to that border post.
* Note: Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Railway is also an under construction new railway link extension from the exiting Rishikesh railway station to Karnaprayag. It will have the following 11 stations: Rishikesh, Shivpuri, Byasi, Devprayag, Maletha, Srinagar, Dhari, Rudraprayag, Gholtir, Gauchar, Karnaprayag.

## Strategic importance

Once this railway line is completed, India-China border will be closer to the rest of India by railways. 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.

## Challenges

After the Konkan Railway, Hassan–Mangalore line and Jammu–Baramulla line, this line will be the most challenging railway project in Indian Railways due to mountainous terrain, a large number of tunnels and high bridges and severe cold weather in flood, landslide and earthquake prone high altitude mountainous area.

## Related connectivity

While Char Dham Rail will connect the area in Gharwal region, the DPR for the following new rail lines were announced in the 2024-25 to connect the other regions of Uttrakhand:
* Kumaon region
** Tanakpur-Bageshwar-Gairsain-Karanprayag line: has the following two components.
*** Tanakpur-Bageshwar line: from Tanakpur in southeast to Bageshwar in northwest.
*** Bageshwar-Gairsain-Karanprayag line: from Bageshwar in east to Gairsain in west.
** Tanakpur-Pithoragarh-Jauljibi line: One of the strategic line required by the Army.
* Terai region:
** Haridwar-Saharanpur line: from Haridwar in northeast to Saharanpur in southwest.

## Current status

* Overall:
** 2017 May: Char Dham Railway project, with 327 km long lines costing ₹74,000 crore (USD $9 billion), began with the foundation stone laying and commencement of ₹120 crore Final Location Survey (FSL) in May 2017 by the Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu.
** 2018 Jan: reconnaissance survey completed, and 2-year long final survey using airborne electromagnetic technique commenced. Land for all railway stations was being acquired and work was going on in small phases over the entire route.
** 2024 Oct: Construction is yet to commence, final completion date is yet to be decided.
* A1. Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway, 131 km, 11 stations:
** 2024 Jan: feasibility study completed.
* A2. Maneri-Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway (spur from A1), 46 km, 5 stations:
** 2024 Feb: On hold due to the lack of environmental clearance.
* B1. Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway, 99 km, 7 stations:
** 2023 Mar: feasibility study completed.
** 2023 Dec: Environmental clearance granted, Detailed Project Report (DPR) was being prepared.
* B2. Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway (spur from B1), 75 km, 4 stations:
** 2024 Feb: Detailed Project Report (DPR) was being prepared.