Foundation stone for world’s highest railway line laid

The world’s highest railway line of 498 kms got a kick start with Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu laying the foundation stone for the final location survey of Bilaspur-Manali-Leh broad gauge line.

It is a precursor before the actual construction starts for the railway line. The new line will connect Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Keylong and other important towns of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir states enroute.

This railway line will be further connected to Bhanupali between Anandpur Sahib and Nangal Dam. It will pass through  Shivalik, Great Himalayan and Zanskar Ranges, areas with wide variation in height (600 m to 5,300 m above MSL) and seismic zone IV and V.

A number of tunnels, deep viaducts and bridges will be constructed for this route.

The survey will be completed by 2o19 at a cost of Rs 157 crores.

This will be the highest railway line in the world which will connect 1.5 residents of Leh.  The road connectivity to this area gets cut off from other parts of country due to heavy snowfall, thus necessitating all weather rail connectivity both for strategic as well as socio-economic needs.