Union govt allocates 2,698 crore for railway expansion to Himachal

Shimla railway station on the World Heritage Shimla-Kalka rail line and four other railway stations of the state are being built based on world-class standards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has approved an amount of ₹2,698 crore for railway expansion in Himachal.

The amount was allocated in the Union Budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (HT representational image)

The amount was allocated in the Union Budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Shimla railway station on the World Heritage Shimla-Kalka rail line and four other railway stations of the state are being built based on world-class standards. Palampur railway station on the Pathankot-Joginderanagar rail line is also being made world-class. Two others are the Baijnath-Paprola and Amb-Indora railway stations. Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this information while addressing media through virtual mode from Delhi.

He said that all other rail lines have been electrified except the heritage rail line. Shimla-Kalka Heritage Rail Line cannot be altered red with, because all the rules of UNESCO apply on this rail line, he said.

The railway minister said that the under-construction Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail line will progress rapidly with the railway budget allocated to the state. Apart from this, the work of land acquisition for the Baddi-Chandigarh rail line has been completed, now further construction work will start. The Nangal-Talwara rail line will also be expanded from this budget.

It is worth mentioning that the government plans to extend the 63 km long Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail line to Leh. The survey of this rail line has been done. This rail line will reach Leh via Bilaspur, Mandi-Manali, Sissu, Darcha, and Keylong Kharsu. The length of this proposed rail line is 489 km. The rail line from Bilaspur to Leh will have 62 tunnels and 40 stations.

The construction of the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail line has a deadline of December 2026, but the ‘rail vikas nigam’ is trying to complete the work in 2025. Till now, an amount of about ₹5,190 crore has been spent on it.