Once this railway line is completed,India-China border will be closer to the rest of India byrailways. The time taken to reach the strategic border military stations fromDelhi will be reduced by providing safe and quick mode of public transport for personnel and equipment.[1]
After theKonkan Railway,Hassan–Mangalore line andJammu–Baramulla line, this line will be the most challenging railway project inIndian 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.[1][2]
TheChar Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:
"Rishikesh-Kedarnath–Badrinath rail link" taking off from the existingRishikesh railway station toKarnaprayag and going towardsKedarnath ((terminating at Sonprayag railhead few kilometers before Kedarnath), with a fork towardsBadrinath ((terminating at Joshimath railhead few kilometers before Badrinath).
"Doiwala-Gangotri–Yamunotri rail link" taking off from the existing railwayDoiwala railway station and going towardsGangotri (terminating at Maneri railhead few kilometers before Gangotri), with a fork towardsYamunotri (terminating at Palar railhead few kilometers before Yamunotri).
A2.Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway 99 km long route will have the following 7 stations:Karnaprayag, Siwai,Saikot Junction, Bairath,Chopta, Makkumath andSonprayag nearGaurikund. The distance from Sonprayag to Kedarnath is 19 km. The 6 km stretch from Sonprayag toGaurikund is paved and motorable, whereas the remaining 13-14 km is a mountainous track, which must be done either on foot, or bypalanquin, or on pony-back.[4]
A3.Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway (spur from A2), 75 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection atSaikot from the Kedarnath railway above toJoshimath. It will have the following 4 stations:Saikot Junction, Tripak, Tartoli andJoshimath. Pilgrims will travel the 37 km from Joshimath toBadrinath by the existing all-weather road.[4] This will take the railway network closer to thedisputed India-China border area ofBara Hoti valley, which is currently in India's operational control, and make it easier to supply equipment and troops to that border post.[6][7]
"Doiwala-Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri" main spur will go to Gangotri which will also Y–fork at Uttarkashi for "Uttarkashi–Palar rail" link spur to Yamunotri.
B2.Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway (spurt from B1), 22 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Athali Junction from the Gangotri railway above to reachPalar railway station, from where pilgrims will take road and track toYamunotri.[4] Palar to Yamunotri is a further 42 km.
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:[9]
2017 May: Char Dham Railway project, with 327 km long lines costing₹74,000crore (USD $9 billion),[3] began with the foundation stone laying and commencement of ₹120 croreFinal Location Survey (FSL) in May 2017 by theUnion Minister of RailwaysSuresh Prabhu.[1][2]
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.[4]
2025 Jul: Only "A1. Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line" is under-construction, construction for other lines is yet to commence, final completion date is yet to be decided.
