Indian Railways plans world's highest railway track: 10 facts about the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line

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Indian Railways plans to start building the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line along the Indo-China border which will make it the world's highest railway track. The line, which is expected to be operational in 2022, will help the border forces, boost tourism and also reduce the travel time to Leh from Delhi. Let's look at 10 facts which make this rail line important:

1. The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh rail line will be at the height of 5360 metres above sea level making it the highest rail line in the world. The current highest rail track is at the Tanggula Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet rail line which is at 5010 meters above sea level.
2. The project will reduce the travel time between Delhi and Leh to 20 hours. Currently, it takes 40 hours to reach from Delhi to Leh.
3. The project is expected to be completed by 2022, covering a distance of 465 km. The government has estimated that the project would cost about Rs 83,360 crore.
4. This route will be connecting all the important landmarks between Bilaspur and Leh which includes Sunder Nagar, Mandi, Manali, Tandi, Keylong, Koksar, Darcha, Upshi, and Karu.
5. With the construction of this rail line, Leh region in Ladakh will be easily accessible all-year round as the road connectivity blocks between the months of October-March due to heavy snowfall.
6. A total of 14 strategic lines have been listed from which these four strategic lines will be taken at the first phase. The Bilaspur-Leh rail line will be along the Himachal and Jammu-Kashmir border, whereas the other three lines - Missamari-Tenga-Tawang (378 km), North Lakhimpur-Bame (Along)-Silapathar (249 km) and Pasighat-Tezu-Parsuram Kund-Rupai (227 km) will run along the Assam-Arunachal border.
7. The rail line project will include 74 tunnels, 124 major bridges and 396 minor bridges under the first phase of the project.
8. Keylong in Himachal Pradesh will become the first Indian station to be inside a tunnel under the Indian Railways network.
9. The Upshi to Leh line, which is a 51-km line in the first phase of the planned project, would be completed in two years and the construction of this line will start soon. The total cost of this line is estimated to be around Rs 5,000 crore.
10. This project will be the most challenging project undertaken by the Indian Railways stated the General Manager of Northern Railway, Vishesh Chaube. The railways have suggested this project be declared as a national project as the significant investment would be made by the central government.