Govt starts awarding tenders for Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project

Dehradun, December 6 

The work to construct the Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line is likely to pick up pace with the finalisation of tender and other details for the first 6 kilometers of the 125.20 km long railway line.

Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh reportedly chaired a meeting with the officials engaged in the construction of the railway line. So far, the government has been engaged in the monitoring of the expansion of the all-weather road and new construction activities at Kedarpuri near Kedarnath. Though the main work is to start next year, the process of awarding tenders for the first few kilometres has started. 

The cost of the railway project will be around Rs 16,000 crore, up from around Rs 4,000 crore when the project was first mooted six years ago. The passenger train is likely to run at a speed of 100 km per hour and the goods train at a speed of 65 km per hour.  The rail link will connect Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Gauchar Karnprayag with five districts of Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri, Rudrapryag and Chamoli.

A 15.1 km long tunnel, will be constructed between Devprayag and Lachmoli. The project will also include 16 bridges, the longest being 460 metres. — TNS