New Delhi: Railways has decided to preserve five of its metre-gauge lines across the country, including the 150-km-long Nanpara-Mailani line that passes through the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, and run them as heritage lines. Sources said that this signifies a shift in railways’ plan of converting all metre-gauge lines into broad-gauge ones.

In 2016, advocate Satish Kumar Mishra had moved Allahabad high court against the railways’ plan to convert the line passing through the national park. A year later in August 2017, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve director Sunil Chaudhary was allowed to become a party in the case and he told court if the railways goes ahead with its plans, it will pose a serious threat to the wildlife in the national park. On December 13, 2017, the HC asked all concerned parties to convene a meeting and come up with a solution.

The said meeting was convened on March 28 this year and its details will be provided to the court on April 23. According to sources, the railway officials, in consultation with the forest department, have decided to not convert the line passing through the national park, in which 91 animals have died in train accidents in the last 10 years.

The other railway lines which will be preserved pass through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam, and Gujarat. Sources said these lines are linked to tourist destinations and were earlier identified for gauge conversion, but now will be retained as heritage lines.

Among them is the 30-km-long Mhow-Kalakund line in Madhya Pradesh, which, sources said, will be used solely for tourism purposes. Around 50-km meter-gauge line which passes through the Gir Forest in Gujarat will also be preserved, sources said, along with about a 70-km Marwar-Udaipur metre-gauge railway section falling in the biodiversity sanctuary of Todgarh Raoli.

Another 120-km section has been identified in Assam — the Mahur-Harangajao meter gauge — in the hill section of the North Cachar Hill district (now called Dima Hasao district).

The line, which will now be preserved, is unique for the presence of numerous tunnels in the section that still stand out as architectural marvels.