Jogindernagar Line Expansion Survey Estimates ₹30,000 Crore Cost
The Union Ministry of Railways has completed a survey for converting the Pathankot–Jogindernagar narrow-gauge railway line into broad gauge. According to the survey report, recently submitted to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the expansion is expected to cost ₹30,000 crore. Official sources said the 195-km line would require seven tunnels and 1,150 bridges of varying sizes. The report will now be placed before the central government for financial approval.
The Kangra Valley Railway, built by the British in 1926, is among the world’s longest narrow-gauge lines. Currently, the track has two tunnels and 950 bridges. Recently, Kangra MP Rajiv Bhardwaj met the Railway Minister and pressed for the century-old line’s immediate conversion to broad gauge, prompting the order for a detailed project report (DPR).
The 120-km Kangra Valley Railway, one of India’s oldest narrow-gauge routes, has long awaited expansion. The line once connected key religious and cultural towns of Kangra district as well as parts of Mandi, but Indian Railways has not added even a single mile of new track in the past eight decades. Despite repeated proposals, the conversion has remained only on paper, and the line’s condition has steadily deteriorated over the last decade.
For the 4 million people of Himachal Pradesh’s lower hill regions, the Kangra Valley line is considered a lifeline. Earlier, seven trains ran daily across 33 stations, covering major towns and tourist destinations such as Nurpur, Jawali, Jwalamukhi Road, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Chamunda, Palampur, Baijnath, and Jogindernagar. However, direct services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar have been suspended for the past 18 months after a bridge over the Chakki River near Pathankot collapsed.
The strategic importance of the line was underscored after the 1999 Kargil War, when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee proposed linking Pathankot to Leh via Manali for defense purposes. The Kangra–Leh route was considered safer, lying beyond the range of Pakistani shelling.
At present, the Kangra Valley line is in disrepair. Much of its infrastructure has outlived its intended lifespan, with tracks deteriorating further over time. Poor maintenance and funding shortages have delayed the repair and replacement of aging bridges and retaining walls, leaving the once-proud line in a fragile state.
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