Rail line Connecting Leh to Indian Railway network

[jis]

Quoting Press Trust of India (PTI):

Survey work for construction of rail link to Leh Begins
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 2:08pm

New Delhi, July 30 (PTI) The remote Ladakh region is all set to be connected with the railway network with the government today saying the survey work for the project has begun following its sanction.

"Survey for construction of rail line between Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) to Leh (Ladakh) has been sanctioned and the survey work has been taken up," Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa said in the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

He said broad gauge line will be laid connecting Bilaspur to Leh.

This would be the second ambitious project in Jammu and Kashmir connecting the state with the rest of the country. The other being the Kashmir rail link project.

PTI

Leh is in the Northeast corner of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It is actually located on the westernmost end of the Tibetan plateau. See map here. It's altitude is around 12,000' and it is in the Indus Valley between the Zanskar and the Ladakh Ranges, which are both trans-Himalayan ranges with several very high passes through them including the Khardung La at 18'000' just north of Leh on the road from Leh to Karakoram Pass on the India - China border.

 

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Link to article

 

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Apparently the line is being built in response to the Qing-Zang Railway:

"With China building the Beijing-Lhasa railway track, it is critical for India to respond and build the Manali-Leh route both from the security and tourism point of view of India," said Prem Kumar Dhumal, chief minister, Himachal Pradesh.

 

[jis]

Apparently the line is being built in response to the Qing-Zang Railway:

"With China building the Beijing-Lhasa railway track, it is critical for India to respond and build the Manali-Leh route both from the security and tourism point of view of India," said Prem Kumar Dhumal, chief minister, Himachal Pradesh.

Actually a more relevant different route that is being surveyed in response to the Lhasa line and its imminent extension to Xegatse is the Shivok - Rangpo alignment in northern West Bengal and Sikkim, with possible extension to Nathu-La border with China/Tibet. This particular extension to Gangtok is ostensibly positioned as one of several projects to connect all state capitals in the Northeast by rail. It is perhaps incidental that at Nathu-La it could potentially connect up with an extension of the Xegaze line along a branch southwards through Gyangze to Yadong. Currently a survey has been completed upto Rangpo with construction completion set for 2012/2013, and a survey has been sanctioned for Rangpo to Gangtok, which would be the next stage to connect to Nathu-La. Interestingly this route is not part of any Trans-Asian rail plan yet.

My suspicion is that the Bilaspur - Leh alignment via Manali/Rohtang has more to do with perceived defense needs and also more to do with the proposed Karakoram Railway that China and Pakistan are planning to build to eventually connect the Chinese Railway from Urumqui to Pakistan through Kashghar and across the Karakoram through Khunjerab Pass essentially following the alignment of the Karakoram Highway, which I understand is another most spectacular journey, though not as high in altitude as the Manali - Leh - Karakoram Pass route.

The original road from Manali to Leh was commissioned by the Indian Border Road Organization (Projects Deepak in HP and Himank in J&K) back in the 80's mainly to provide a second supply route for the military in Ladakh (Siachen Front and Aksai Chin) without having to go through Kashmir Valley and the treacherous Zoji-La and without passing within firing range of Pakistani forces in Kargil. I have traveled from Manali to Leh on that route, and it is probably the most spectacular journey that I have ever undertaken bar none, crossing four high Himalayan passes Rohtang, Baralach-La, Taglang-La and Lachlung-La, the highest of which is almost 17,500' high, and some amazing pieces of engineering like the 21 Gata Loops. While the rail alignment will not go upto the top of the passes I am sure, it will still pass most likely across the high plateau of Morey Plains which is some 13,000 feet high, and some 25 miles across, and amazingly flat Tundra-like place. At present they are busy digging a 9km long Road tunnel under Rohtang to make the route available all year round. At present there is too much snow up in Rohtang in the winter to keep the road between Manali and Kaylong open year round.

 

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Video of the



Note lack of guardrails, signs, etc.

Not a place I'd want to drive. I'd much rather go by train if there was one.

 

[jis]

Note lack of guardrails, signs, etc.

At least the road is now fully paved I see. When I went by there in 2001, it was not. There were segments that were unpaved. I have heard that it is being improved to be a two lane road these days. BTW, the segment shown is near the top of the loops, looks like the top 3 segments. The river below is the Lingti which the road follows from Sarchu to the base of the Gata Loops. At the top of the loops a few miles away is Lachlung-La.

Not a place I'd want to drive. I'd much rather go by train if there was one.

Fortunately getting a Toyota Qualis with an expert driver for hire is not expensive at all. Can be done easily at Manali for the entire trip to Leh and back. Although travel around Leh will require additional arrangements since a driver from out of state is not allowed to do local tourism work around Leh. Only allowed to drive to and fro from Manali. But yes, having train service will be much better, but that is at least 15 years away.

BTW if you read this blog, you will realize that the lack of guardrails is going to be the least of your problems Fortunately, the Indian Army medics are fantastic and they are well equipped to deal with the situation at each of their checkposts on the way.