Damaged In Himachal Rains, Kalka-Shimla Railway To Resume In October
The service of the 120-year-old Kalka-Shimla Railway, suspended?since mid-August after the heavy rains and floods in Himachal Pradesh damaged the railway tracks, will resume in October.
Repair work at the narrow gauge railway, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Kalka-Shimla Railway line?
The toy train, which runs on this 96-km track, passes through 18 stations, 102 tunnels, and 988 bridges and is a major tourist attraction.
The rail route was built during British rule to connect Shimla, the summer capital, with the Indian rail system.
Moreover, the first train arrived in Shimla on November 9, 1903. All the steam engine run trains used to come till 1970 and after 1970 all trains were run through diesel engines.
The Kalka Shimla railway line was declared UNESCO's world heritage line in 2008.??
One of the three heritage lines in India
Only three railway lines in India have received UNESCO's world heritage tag, the others being the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway.
This first Vista Dome coach was attached to one of the regular trains in December 2018 and was started after December 2019 on a regular basis and has been an attraction to people.
Bridge washed away on August 14
On August 14, a part of the railway line between Summer Hill and Jutogh stations was washed away in a massive landslide.?
The track had suffered damages in over 170 locations, including the heavy rain that hit the state in July.
Last month, the Union Ministry of Railways sanctioned Rs 15 crore to repair and restore the track and the bridge that was washed away in the rain.
"We are waiting for the restoration of this heritage railway track. This Railway line is an attraction for tourists. This was damaged due to rain and floods here; you can see the restoration is underway here. This was damaged on August 14, and we want it to start soon. We hope it starts soon," Naveen Sharma, a resident, told ANI recently.
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