The Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal said while addressing the gathering of the investors during the Destination Uttarakhand Investors Summit-2018 here on Sunday that Indian Railways are working on the plan to connect the Char Dhams-Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri-,all located in Uttarakhand, with rail network. He said that the work on the ambitious Rishikesh- Karnprayag rail project is going on apace and the first phase of connecting Veerbhadra with New Rishikesh would be completed by 2020. He hailed the keen interest taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the mega project.
Goyal said that the project would cost about Rs 44,000 crore and the Centre has set aside a sum of Rs 16,200 crore for the same. “Once completed, it would immensely boost the economic activity in the mountainous State,” he said. He, further, said that the Railways have decided to use 100 percent electric traction on Rishikesh– Karanprayag route which will ensure that the engine emits no pollutants while speeding through the picturesque landscape.
The Minister also claimed that Indian Railways have raised budgetary allocation for Uttarakhand three times over the past four years.
He said that while the Railways used to spend about Rs 187 crore per year in Uttarakhand between 2009 to 2014 it has jumped to Rs 577 crore from 2015 onwards
