Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line
The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line is an under-construction railway line, which will run from Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station in Rishikesh to Karnaprayag. It is Indian Railways' proposed route for the Char Dham Railway to connect to the Chhota Char Dham for the pilgrimage to Uttarakhand. The line is also part of an Indian geostrategic initiative to build infrastructure along the India-China border to discourage Chinese expansion. Project. Satpal Maharaj began a survey for the project as Minister of Railways of Uttarakhand in 1996. The project received funding and other authorisations from the government; it was  reportedly India's longest tunnel-rail project, which would play a vital role in national security and the welfare of Uttarakhand. The line will serve pilgrims and local residents, and will be able to rapidly move troops to the India-China border. The project's foundation stone was scheduled to be laid by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, on 9 November 2011, and work began in 2015 under the National Democratic Alliance. Alignment of the 125-kilometer-long railway project was completed in 2013, but it was delayed by political wrangling. Route. The Rishikesh railway station (RKSH) is in  the city, and the railway line could not be extended through densely-populated areas. A rail line was built from the Virbhadra station to the new Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station (YNRK), built in 2020. The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag route begins at (385 m AMSL) and ends at Karnaprayag (825 m AMSL). The ₹16,200 crore project will reduce travel time between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag from 6-7 hours to hours. It was planned to cross 16 bridges, and 105 km (85 percent) will run through tunnels. A 15.1-km tunnel, reportedly India's longest, will be built between Devprayag and  Lachmoli. According to a letter to the Uttarakhand government from RVNL, stations will include in Rishikesh, Dehradun district, Srinagar, Tehri, Shivpuri and Byasi in Tehri district, Devprayag and Dungripanth (Dhari devi) in Pauri, Rudraprayag and Gholtir in Rudraprayag district, and Gaucher and Karanprayag in Chamoli district. The line will have 12 stations, 17 tunnels and 35 bridges, and is expected to be completed by 2024-25. Status. Design contracts for tunnel and bridge construction were awarded in 2019. Italferr, the engineering arm of FS Italiane Group, received the contract for the design and supervision of the 12-km-long section  (running almost entirely through tunnels) of the Himalaya Tunnel as part of a joint venture with Swiss firm Lombardi SA. That construction began in 2019. Work on the first block section, from the Virbhadra railway station to , began in June 2018 and was completed in 2020.