indian railways is planning the bilaspur-manali-leh new broad gauge line (route length 498 kms) in jammu and kashmir. the foundation stone for the final location survey of the project at leh was laid on 27th june, 2017. in order to connect leh with a broad gauge railway line with the rest of india, indian railway has taken up final location survey, a precursor to actual construction from bilaspur to leh via manali. the alignment shall connect mandi, kullu, manali, keylong and other important towns of himachal pradesh & jammu & kashmir states enroute. the line from bilaspur shall be further connected to bhanupali between anandpur sahib and nangal dam. the proposed alignment passes through the shivalik, great himalayan & zanskar ranges, areas with wide variation in height (600 mtrs to 5,300 mtrs above msl) and seismic zone iv and v [is:1893(part-i)-2002], necessitating building of large number of tunnels, deep viaducts & bridges. the work of final location survey has been entrusted by ministry of railways to rites and is planned to be completed by march 2019 with an approximate cost of rs. 1,570 million. [info as of: jun. 17]
