Taranga Hill Ambaji Abu Road Rail Project Station Work Begins

26 Mar 2026 CW Team

Construction on the Abu Road–Taranga Hill–Ambaji railway line is under way, with earthwork, tunnel excavation, station buildings and road under bridges at multiple locations. The 116.65 km line is estimated to cost Rs 30.5 billion (bn) and land acquisition has been completed. Station building work at Taranga Hill has commenced after Ambaji, and a new platform is under construction at Abu Road as part of the project.

Engineers are excavating 13 tunnels totalling about 13 km, with four major tunnels targeted for completion by March 2027. The longest, at about 2,300 metres, will be near the Shaktipeeth Ambaji station and tunnels are being built using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method, similar to the Udhampur–Katra project. Officials said drone photography and videography are being used regularly to enable monitoring by the Prime Minister's Office.

The route will include the tallest bridge near Surpagla village in the Abu Road block, with a height of around 80 metres, and will traverse Sirohi district in Rajasthan and the Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Banaskantha districts in Gujarat. The line will have 15 stations, including Abu Road, and Ambaji will host the largest station with a multi-storey passenger rest house to serve devotees. A base camp and a temporary laboratory have been set up in the Maliyavas area of Siyava.

Work on track laying and related infrastructure is under way in several villages in the Abu Road block, including Kui, Chandravati, Siyava, Surpagla and Deri, and officials from the engineering department are coordinating to meet the schedule. The Chief Public Relations Officer of North Western Railway said the project is progressing steadily and remains on course to meet key targets. Taranga Hill in Mehsana district, an important Jain and Buddhist pilgrimage site with a 12th-century Jain temple and the Jogidani cave, will gain rail connectivity that is expected to improve access to major religious destinations.

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