Trains to hills in Uttarakhand on the cards

In a move to give a major boost to the infrastructure sector in Uttarakhand, the Indian Railways is planning to take trains from Rishikesh to the hilly town of Karanprayag, and also to Kalsi area, bordering Himachal Pradesh from Dehra Dun city.

For this purpose, the department is undertaking fresh surveys, which are in final stages, officials said.

For the 126-km long Rishikesh-Karanprayag route in Garhwal region, 60 to 70 per cent of the survey has already been completed. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,372 crore.

The remaining survey is expected to be completed in two months time. The rail route will be Rishikesh-Devprayag-Srinagar-Karanprayag, along the rivers Ganga and Alaknanda. The department intends to take a broad-gauge line to Karanprayag from Rishikesh.

Top officials described the move by the Railways as a major decision, which will help in boosting the local infrastructure of the hill state, which is plagued by bad road conditions, especially during the monsoon. “This will also give a flip to the tourism in the hills,” the official said.

On the Dehra Dun-Kalsi route, the survey is expected to be completed in one-month time. In this route, the total distance would be 50 km and the cost of the project is being assessed.

Besides this, the Railways will also make arrangements for the double-line track on the Luxor-Haridwar-Dehra Dun route. The department would also construct over-bridges on this route.