Uttarakhand beckons trekkers from all over the world to its beautiful environs. Blessed with mystical surroundings of colossal Himalayan peaks and diverse mountain terrain, it has beautiful locations that offer trekking opportunities all over the year. The capital of the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Dehradun is the gateway to many treks, beautiful hill stations and even to the pilgrimage locales of Haridwar and Rishikesh.

 

From easy treks like Nag Tibba to moderate ones like Har ki Dun, Kedarkantha to more difficult ones like Rupin Pass, the beautiful valley of Dehradun in Uttarakhand serves as the starting point for these treks.

Reason

Dehradun is easily accessible from almost all major cities of India. It is well connected via rail, road, and air. However, Dehradun railway station is shut for renovations from November 10th, 2019 to February 7th, 2020. Aimed at allowing bigger trains with increased capacity, renovation work will increase efficiency in the long run. Around 18 trains have been cancelled or re-routed in the wake of ongoing renovations.

 

This includes trains like Dehradun-New Delhi Shatabdi Express and Nanda Devi Express which will commence and terminate at Haridwar railway station.

Effect

The tourism industry of Dehradun seems concerned as this may lead to a decrease in the number of tourists this year. It is too early to say if this renovation will impact the Uttarakhand economy adversely but in the longer run, this prestigious program of railway station redesign and redevelopment will reap higher profits and act as a boon for the tourism/trekking industry. Thinking on bigger terms, this renovation will compensate for the lost profits as bigger trains will halt at the station once the renovation is complete. Earlier bigger trains, with more than 10-12 coaches could not halt at the railway station.

Alternate arrangements

 

Uttarakhand is a heaven of trekking during winters and tourists head to Dehradun during the peak season of November to February. If you have any trekking scheduled in the coming months then we suggest that you make alternate arrangements to reach Dehradun. This might seem a trifle baffling to an amateur but there are many alternate/easy ways to reach this gateway of trekking. Trekking enthusiasts can heave a sigh of relief as reaching Dehradun by alternate means is not at all difficult.

Alternate means to reach Dehradun

The trains that were scheduled to stop at Dehradun will now stop at Haridwar or halt at the nearby stations. Haridwar and Dehradun are just 60 km apart.

Most of these treks from Dehradun have Sankri village as the base camp which can be easily reached from Haridwar.

By rail

Take a train from Delhi to Haridwar. Alight at Haridwar and then reach Dehradun by road. It takes 1.5-2 hours from Haridwar to reach Dehradun which is at a distance of 60 km. A taxi might cost 1000-1200/- and bus will be cheaper.

By road-

Reach Dehradun by road from Delhi. It takes 6-7 hours from Delhi to reach Dehradun which is at a distance of 254 km.

There are several bus services available, both state transport and private, from ISBT Kashmere Gate or Anand Vihar. From normal roadways buses to AC buses to Volvo, there are many types of buses available to make your journey comfortable.

You can either book at the ISBT or even book online.

By air-

Jolly Grant Airport at Dehradun is well connected to Delhi through major airlines like Indigo, Air India, Jet Airways, Spice Jet and there are 7 to 8 flights operating each day in this sector. It takes 55 minutes to reach Dehradun by air from Delhi.

Dehradun is connected to Mumbai and Lucknow through direct flights too but the frequency of the flights is less as compared to Delhi.