Himachal Pradesh Railway snippets

Himachal Pradesh's endless wait since Independence for a broad gauge railway line will soon come to an end as the union ministry of railway has given its nod to a reconnaissance engineering cum traffic survey of the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Mandi- Manali-Leh belt in the state for the construction of new broad gauge railway line from Bilaspur to Leh via Kullu and Manali.
At present the hill state has only two narrow gauge rail lines one famous Kalka to Shimla track known for the toy train.The two broad gauge rail lines are of just 14 km from Nangal in Punjab to Una in Himachal Pradesh,which are not enough to cater to the needs of the hill state.
After Kashmir valley got its railway line, Himachal had been hoping for sanction of broad gauge railline as the geographic conditions of the state are almost similar to that of the Kashmir valley.
Himachal government sources said the survey sanctioned by the union ministry would take about two years for the 480-km Bilaspur-Leh rail link. There is a possibility that this important railway project may be declared a national project given the difficult logistics and huge budget involved in it besides its strategic importance. Besides, the state government has mooted the idea of putting up the case of Pathankot-Jogindernagar Railway line before the UNESCO for the grant of World Heritage Site status to the railway track.
The Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh railway line will provide an uninterrupted communication link to theborder areas and could be of immense importance in meeting the security and developmental needs of the country, besides giving impetus to tourism activities in the state.It is likely to open new vistas of development and tourism particularly in Bilaspur-Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts of the hill state and in preserving environment.
The state has already been awarded Diamond State Award for its environment protection endeavours. The new railway line will have its environmental significance also since it would decongest road traffic thereby minimising pollution through fuel emission. The work of the project will be undertaken on the basis of clean development mechanism, which would ensure environment conservation and will earn carbon credits to thestate simultaneously.
The rail line will provide weather transportation facility to the areas of Lahaul-Spiti, which remain cut off for almost six months in a year besides strengthening the rail network in Leh area. It will further strengthen the infrastructure development in the strategic border areas of the state, which will be a blessing to the people of the area.