India is planning a railway station at an altitude of about 5,256 metres in Ladakh, which would make it the highest in the world. The Tanglang La railway station would sit beneath the Tanglang La mountain pass on the proposed 489-km Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line, a project the Detailed Project Report puts at Rs 1.31 lakh crore. The station would stand about 188 metres higher than China’s Tanggula station, the current record holder on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
The Ministry of Railways said in a statement on 13 March 2026 that the survey for the line had been completed and the Detailed Project Report prepared. The line is planned as a broad-gauge corridor linking Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh with Leh in Ladakh, passing through Manali. Nearly 270 km of the route would run through tunnels, and the Ministry of Defence has described the project as strategically important for connectivity to Ladakh and the border areas.
If built at the planned height, the Tanglang La railway station would take the record from China, whose Tanggula station sits at about 5,068 metres. The Tanglang La railway station has been reported at slightly different heights in different accounts, with some earlier reports putting the figure at 5,359 to 5,360 metres, while recent reports give 5,256 metres. The Railway Ministry’s published project details confirm the route and the overall cost but do not state the station’s final elevation on their own.
Tanglang La railway station and the 489 km line
The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line would run for 489 km across Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, connecting towns along the way and giving Ladakh an all-weather rail link for the first time. At present the region depends on roads that close in winter, and the rail line is meant to carry passengers and freight through the year. The project would also let the armed forces move troops and supplies toward the frontier faster than road transport allows, and the Tanglang La railway station would be the highest point on the route.
Tanglang La railway station and the China record
China’s Tanggula station, at 5,068 metres on the line from Xining to Lhasa, has held the record for the world’s highest railway station since the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opened. The Tanglang La railway station would pass it by about 188 metres if built at 5,256 metres. The comparison has drawn attention in Indian reporting, but the railway ministry has framed the project in terms of connectivity and defence rather than the record itself.
The line would also change how people and goods reach Leh. Ladakh sits at high altitude and far from the rest of the rail network, and the road link closes in winter. A train would keep the connection open through the year, carrying passengers and freight in months when the passes are shut. That is the reason the Ministry of Defence has backed the project, and it is also why the cost is so high, with tunnels and bridges needed across much of the route.
What still stands in the way
The project has not yet received final approval for construction. The survey is done and the Detailed Project Report is ready, but the government still has to decide on funding, and consultations with NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Finance are under way. No date has been set for work to start, and no completion deadline has been announced. The Tanglang La railway station will stay a proposal until those decisions are made.
There has also been a legal setback. In October 2026 the Himachal Pradesh High Court quashed a preliminary land acquisition notification for a related 63-km stretch, the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri line, saying the government had not met the statutory requirements for extending the declaration deadline. The ruling does not stop the main project, but it shows the land and legal work that still has to be settled before construction can begin.
For now, the Tanglang La railway station remains a plan on paper. The survey is complete, the cost is estimated at Rs 1.31 lakh crore, and the route is set. Whether trains ever run beneath Tanglang La will depend on the approvals and funding decisions that are still to come.