Existing railheads

At present, the relevant railway lines are as follows:

• From the Raiwala Junction railway station, one line goes in the north-west direction via Doiwala Railway Station and terminates in Dehradun; another line goes in the north-east direction to terminate in Rishikesh (at the new Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station, the old Rishikesh railway station being almost defunct).
• The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag line is already under construction, to extend the railway network beyond Yog Nagari Rishikesh railway station, and upon completion, Karnaprayag will become the terminal point
• The Char Dham Railway will consist of two different railway lines:
  • one taking off from the existing railhead at Doiwala and going towards Gangotri, with a fork towards Yamunotri
  • the other taking off from the forthcoming railhead at Karnaprayag and going towards Kedarnath, with a fork towards Badrinath

Proposed new lines

The Char Dham Railway has two different Y-shaped railways, with total of the following four individual rail lines:

• A. Gangotri–Yamunotri spurs: Main spur will go to Gangotri which will also Y–fork for another spur to Yamunotri.
  • A1. Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway 131 km long route will have the following 11 stations: Doiwala, Sangatiyawala Khurd, Sarangdharwala, Ampata, Maror, Kandisaur, Chinyalisaur, Dunda, Athali Junction, Ladari and Maneri.^[3] Pilgrims will road transport from Maneri to Harsil-Gangotri via NH-34. This will take the railway and Char Dham road highway at Gangotri closer to the large disputed India-China border area of Nelang Valley which is currently in India's operational control.^[4][5] Maneri to Gangotri is a further 84 km.
  • A2. Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway, 22 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Athali Junction from the Gangotri railway above to reach Palar railway station, from where pilgrims will take road and track to Yamunotri.^[3] Palar to Yamunotri is a further 42 km.

• B. Kedarnath–Badrinath spurs: Main spur will go to Kedarnath which will also Y–fork for another spur to Badrinath.
  • B1. Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway 99 km long route will have the following 7 stations: Karnaprayag, Siwai, Saikot Junction, Bairath, Chopta, Makkumath and Sonprayag near Gaurikund. The distance from Sonprayag to Kedarnath is 19 km. The 6 km stretch from Sonprayag to Gaurikund is paved and motorable, whereas the remaining 13-14 km is a mountainous track, which must be done either on foot, or by palanquin, or on pony-back.^[3]
  • B2. Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway, 75 km long route will make a "Y" fork connection at Saikot from the Kedarnath railway above to Joshimath. It will have the following 4 stations: Saikot Junction, Tripak, Tartoli and Joshimath. Pilgrims will travel the 37 km from Joshimath to Badrinath by the existing all-weather road.^[3] This will take the railway network closer to the disputed India-China border area of Bara Hoti valley, which is currently in India's operational control, and make it easier to supply equipment and troops to that border post.^[5][6]

• Note: Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Railway is also an under construction new railway link extension from the exiting Rishikesh railway station to Karnaprayag. It will have the following 11 stations: Rishikesh, Shivpuri, Byasi, Devprayag, Maletha, Srinagar, Dhari, Rudraprayag, Gholtir, Gauchar, Karnaprayag.^[3][7]