Final survey work for Rs 157 cr Bilaspur-Mandi-Leh rail line launched
Jun 28, 2017: Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu recently laid the foundation stone for the Final Location Survey of Bilaspur-Manali-Leh New Broad Gauge Line, at Leh. Coming up at a high of 3,300 metres, the strategically vital rail line is touted to be one of the highest railway tracks in the world.
Leh is the most important town in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir having approximately 1.5 lakhs population. It has a high footfall of Indian and foreign tourists each year. The district Leh is the second largest district in the country with elaborate army establishments and is the headquarter of 14 corps.
The road connectivity to this area gets cut off from other parts of country due to heavy snowfall during winters, thus necessitating all weather rail connectivity both for strategic as well as socio-economic needs.
In order to connect Leh with a broad gauge railway line with the rest of the country, Indian Railway has taken up Final Location Survey, a precursor to actual construction from Bilaspur to Leh via Manali. The alignment shall connect Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Keylong and other important towns of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir states enroute. The line from Bilaspur shall be further connected to Bhanupali between Anandpur Sahib and Nangal Dam.
The proposed alignment passes through the Shivalik, Great Himalayan and Zanskar Ranges, areas with wide variation in height (600m to 5300 m above MSL) and Seismic zone IV and V [ IS:1893(Part-I)-2002], necessitating building of large number of tunnels, deep viaducts and bridges. The work of Final Location Survey has been entrusted by Ministry of Railways to RITES Ltd and is planned to be completed by March 2019 with an approximate cost of 157 crores.
