Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Railway

Satpal Maharaj inaugurated a survey to this project as a Union Minister, and Minister of Railways of State of Uttar Pradesh (Now, in Uttarakhand) way back in 1996.[3][4][5] This project got budget allocation and other clearances from the government, it is said to be the longest tunnel rail project in the country, which will play a vital role in the security of the country, and livelihood of the people of uttarakhand.[6] The Rishikesh to Karnprayag Rail Line is proposed to serve a very vital role in the country, for prompt movement of Army (as the geographical location of the line is near India-China Border), pilgrims and locals.[7] The foundation stone for the project survey was led down by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, way back on 9 November 2011[8] at Rishikesh, this was a 125-kilometer railway line project. The survey of the project completed somewhere by the year 2013,[9] however, the project was delayed as the state ministers delayed to provide necessary land to Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) for the commencement of the project construction due to nonfinalization of land acquisition rules of Uttarakhand.[10]

The old Rishikesh railway station (RKSH) is located inside the town, so the railway line could not be extended through densely inhabited areas. Therefore, a new railway line was built from Virbhadra railway station and a new highly-facilitated Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station (YNRK) was built in 2020. The 125 km long Rishikesh–Karnaprayag route starts at Yog Nagari Rishikesh at 385m AMSL and ends at Karnaprayag 825m AMSL.[11] The ₹16,200 crore project will reduce Rishikesh to Karnaprayag travel time from 7 hours to 2.1 hours. It will have 16 bridges and 105 km or 85% of the project inside tunnels. A 15.1 km tunnel, reported to be the country's longest, will be built between Devprayag and Lachmoli on the route.[11]

As per the letter issued to Uttarakhand government by RVNL, the sites where railway stations will come up are — Yog Nagari Rishikesh 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 proposed 125-kilometre stretch will have 12 stations, 17 tunnels and 35 bridges. It will be constructed at a cost of Rs 16,216 crore and is expected to be completed by 2024-25.

The design consultancy contracts for tunnel and bridge construction were awarded in 2019. Italferr S.p.A., the engineering arm of FS Italiane Group, as part of a joint venture with Swiss firm Lombardi SA, has been awarded the contract for the executive design and works supervision of a first 12 km long section (running almost entirely through tunnels) of the “Himalaya Tunnel”, for the Rishikesh–Karnaprayag railway in the State of Uttarakhand.[12] The construction has started in 2019. Work for the first block section from Virbhadra railway station to Yog Nagari Rishikesh commenced in June 2018 and was completed in 2020.