New Delhi [India], April 28 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in New Delhi on Monday and congratulated him for the successful breakthrough of India's longest rail tunnel (Devprayag-Janasu) under the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project.

CM Dhami also thanked Vaishnaw on behalf of the people of the state for the approval of the Deoband-Roorkee new rail line project by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS).

During this, CM Pushkar Dhami requested the Railway Minister to approve the project by testing the feasibility of the tunnel-based rail line project to connect Dehradun to Saharanpur via Mohand on the lines of the tunnel system being used in the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project.

Along with this, the Chief Minister requested the implementation of the Rishikesh-Uttarkashi rail line project, starting a Vande Bharat train from Tanakpur (Champawat) to New Delhi and increasing the frequency of the Tanakpur-Dehradun rail.

Declaring the Tanakpur-Bageshwar Rail Project a national project, the Uttarakhand CM also requested the Railway Minister for the full bearing of the expenditure incurred on it by the Government of India and transferring all the rights of the land of the old railway station of Rishikesh to the state government.

Earlier on April 16, Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw attended the breakthrough ceremony of Tunnel T-8 of India's longest rail tunnel, Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line connecting Devprayag to Janasu section.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has achieved a major milestone. It is associated with the 125 km long Rishikesh-Karnprayag broad gauge rail project of Uttarakhand. This rail project is built inside a 105 km tunnel. It has a total of 16 tunnels from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag.

Ashwini Vaishnav expressed happiness over the tunnel's successful breakthrough and said that this is an important step towards Uttarakhand's development.

He congratulated all the railway officials, employees, and workers on this achievement. The Railway Minister also said that the work on the Rishikesh-Karnprayag Rail Project is progressing rapidly, and operations on this rail line are expected to start soon.

This project will prove to be a milestone in connecting the state's hilly areas with the rail network. He said that this 14.57 km long railway tunnel (from Devprayag Saud to Janasu) is not only the longest tunnel in Uttarakhand but also in India. (ANI)