Char Dham rail: A train to the Kedarnath shrine may not run anytime soon

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the implementing agency for the Rs 73,000 crore Char Dham rail project, is against building a broad-gauge railway line on the proposed alignment to the holy shrine at Kedarnath.

After eight years of field surveys and studies, the RVNL has said in an internal assessment report that the Kedarnath link has “technical difficulties, exorbitant cost and does not serve any strategic purpose”. The broad-gauge line is critical to the project given the limitations of the terrain and the strategic needs of the Indian army.

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“The alignment being in a remote area with very little population and accessibility is