The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line is a 126 km long under-construction railway line, connecting Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station in Rishikesh city in the Himalayan foothills Sivalik Hills to Karnaprayag city in the Garhwal region in Lower Himalayan Range of Uttarakhand state of India. It is the main feeder route to Indian Railways' Char Dham Railway project which aims to connect the Char Dham pilgrimage shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. As part of an Indian geostrategic initiative to build infrastructure along the India-China border to discourage Chinese expansion, this rail line is of national strategic importance, which will cut down the travel time to 2 and half hours by railway from earlier 8 hours taken by the road.Uttarakhand: उत्तराखंड में पहाड़ों को चीरकर बन रहा रेल मार्ग, 125 किलोमीटर लंबा रूट 17 सुरंगों से होकर गुजरेगा, msn.com, 29 March 2025.
History
Satpal Maharaj began a survey for the project as Minister of Railways of Uttarakhand in 1996.
The project's foundation stone was scheduled to be laid by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on 9 November 2011. Alignment of the 126-kilometer-long railway project was completed in 2013, but the project was delayed by political wrangling.
The detailed feasibility work finally began in 2015 under the leadership of Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance government. Design contracts for tunnel and bridge construction were awarded in 2019. Italferr, the engineering arm of FS Italiane Group, received the contract for the design and supervision of the 12-km-long section (running almost entirely through tunnels) of the Himalaya Tunnel as part of a joint venture with Swiss firm Lombardi SA. That construction began in 2018. Work on the first block section, from the Virbhadra railway station to , began in June 2018 and was completed in 2020.
Strategic importance
It will play a vital role in national security and the welfare of Uttarakhand, by reducing travel time between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag from 6-7 hours to hours. The line will serve pilgrims and local residents, and will be able to rapidly move troops to the India-China border.
Project features
This project, with 35 bridges, and 105 km (85 percent) will run through 17 tunnels including 15.1-km Devprayag-Lachmoli tunnel which was reportedly India's longest tunnel in 2016.
Route
The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line, which begins at station (385 m ) and ends at Karnaprayag station (825 m ) city, will have the following 12 stations (sequentially listed southwest to northwest direction) all of which are in Uttarakhand state.
Dehradun district in Rishikesh: since the railway line could not be extended from the Rishikesh railway station (RKSH) in the city through densely populated areas, a rail line was built from the Virbhadra station to the new Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station (YNRK).
Tehri Garhwal district Muni Ki Reti
Pauri Garhwal district Shivpuri
Tehri Garhwal district Manjilgaon Sakni Devprayag Kirtinagar
Pauri Garhwal district Srinagar Dungripanth (Dhari devi)
Rudraprayag district Dhari Gholtir Chamoli district Karnaprayag
Related connectivity
Char Dham Railway: Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line is a feeder line to the Char Dham Railway, the later has the following 4 sub-sections: Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway, midway fork from the Gangotri Railway Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway, midway fork from the Kedarnath Railway
Char Dham Highway: will complement the Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line mostly along the same route
Parvatmala, ropeway project across India, including ropeways in some of the destinations of the Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line
Status
2024 Nov: 60% of the project's budget has been utilised with 70% work completed, with 28 of the 38 planned tunnel breakthroughs completed, and the remaining 10 are scheduled for breakthroughs by March 2025, 11 stations were under-construction.Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line likely to operate by 2026 end, officials say 60% of its budget utilised so far, Financial Express, 19 November 2024.Indian Railways’ Rishikesh-Karnaprayag BG rail line project: 11 stations under construction, 176 km of tunnel work completed, Financial Express, 19 Sept 2024.
2025 Nov: 201 km tunneling work out of 213 completed. The earlier project completion date of December 2026 has been revised to more realistic completion date of December 2028.Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Railway Line: Project To Be Completed By Dec 2028, Confirm Officials, Daily Jagran, accessed 27 Nov 2025.
2025 Dec:76 % physical work completed with 69% budget spent (Rs 26,841 crore out of the total estimated Rs 38,953 crore project cost).GoI MSPI Report, MSPI, Dec 2025.
See also Diamond Quadrilateral (railway project) Golden Quadrilateral (road project) Setu Bharatam (project to eliminate at-grade crossings)
References