What is the latest status of Rishikesh-Karnaprayag new rail line project?
The 125-km-long Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway line passes through five districts of Uttarakhand: Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli. This rail link project will provide connectivity to Devprayag and Karnaprayag religious and tourist spots with Rishikesh and Delhi.
The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project alignment passes predominantly through tunnels. The project involves construction of 16 main line tunnels of 105 km length and 12 escape tunnels of about 98 km length.
On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the construction of Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway project is underway with the completion of 13 main line tunnels and nine escape tunnels. He also added that to increase progress of works, eight Adits have also been identified in various tunnels.
'So far, 13 main line tunnels and 9 escape tunnels have been completed. To increase progress of works, 08 Adits in various tunnels were also identified. These adits created additional work faces of tunnel excavation expediting early completion of long tunnels. Works of all 8 Adits have also been completed,' Vaishnaw said.
The Union Minister further said that tunneling works of 199 km has been completed. 'Accordingly, tunneling of 199 Km against total scope of 213 Km has been completed. For the first time in Indian Railways, Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was deployed in the Himalayan Geology for faster execution of works of longest tunnel (T-8) which is 14.8Km long. B
Breakthrough of this tunnel through TBM has been achieved. The tunneling is being carried out with all precautions and latest technologies to ensure minimum damage to ecology and surrounding,' he added.
Anish Mondal is a business journalist with over nine years of experience. He writes on diverse subjects such as Infrastructure, Railways, Roadways, Aviation, Politics, Market, Parliamentary affairs, Corporate earnings, General and International news etc. ... Read More
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