The construction works are progressing at full speed - on behalf of RVNL, Rail Vikas Nigam (the railways of India) – for the new 125 km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway line, 125 km long (105 km developed over 17 tunnels) running parallel to the Ganges riverbed. Which penetrates the Himalayan mountain system in the Uttarakhand region, and includes 13 stations.
The entire construction is divided into ten Packages. The Joint Venture composed of the Italian Italferr (group leader) and Swiss Lombardi who have been entrusted with the Design and Project Management Consulting (PMC) of Packages 1 and 8, and whose excavation is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Package 1 involves the construction of 12 km of track, including an 11 km tunnel with escape tunnel and a station in Shivpuri. On 7 March 2025, the company Max Infra (I) Private Ltd completed the excavation of the section of the Escape Tunnel from the Adit (intermediate tunnel serving the excavation) to Portal P2. The excavation work had begun in May 2021.
Package 8 includes the two tunnels T14 and T15 built with traditional excavation with their escape tunnels, 45 bypasses, three bridges and two stations in Golthir and Gauchar. On 3 March 2025, Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd completed the excavation of the main tunnel (T15), 7.1 km long and with an excavation diameter of almost 9 m. Its emergency tunnel has already been completed and lining works are underway. Excavation works had started in 2022. The excavation of the T14 tunnel (6.7 km) and its escape tunnel is proceeding steadily. The excavation works are scheduled to be completed in 2026.
