Shimla, Sept 26
Today on September 26 after a gap of two and a half months, the Shimla-Kalka toy train chugged uphill from Kalka plains to reach Tara Devi, a station 6 kms short of Shimla. The restoration of the UNESCO accorded heritage train services for transporting of the passengers to Himachal Pradesh brought smiles on the faces of the people linked to the hotel and travel Industry in the state.
The torrential Monsoon rains triggered disasters severely damaged the colonial days old heritage train route at several places in July and August this year in Himachal Pradesh, suspending the movement of trains on the broken and subsiding tracks for about 78 days.
Today on 26 September Shimla-Kalka route saw two trains coming up and down till Tara Devi, carrying tourists on board. The first service ran before noon and second in the afternoon, sending messages to the tourists to ride the chugging machine in the coming days.
Indian Railways is toiling day and night to open the entire Shimla-Kalka train route before October first so that autumn tourism season does suffer further, said a railways source.
Large number of tourists, especially foreigners, are more enthused to travel by small train to Shimla to enjoy the gorgeous views of the surrounding Himalayas.
The Shimla-Kalka heritage train line was built 120 years ago by the British colonial government. This is a 96km-long narrow gauge line, passing through 102 tunnels with 800 bridges and 919 curves. Due to historical heritage and engineering wonders, it was declared as a UNESCO heritage site on 8 July 2008.
