Heritage walk to spread awareness about Kalka-Shimla railway line

SHIMLA - A group of officers and employees of Indian Railways on Sunday began a three-day walk to create public awareness about the Kalka-Shimla railway line in Himachal Pradesh, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Fifteen officers and employees of northern railways set upon the walk through the tracks between Kalka and Shimla to create awareness among the people about the importance of the tracks.

“The main objective of this heritage walk is to create awareness in the public, the travelling passengers and our own staff and officers about the heritage status railway line and to know about the safety aspects, various problems in maintenance of this railway line so that we can improve the bridges, tunnels and other things of this important heritage railway line,” said Nar Singh, a senior railway officer.

Built by the British in 1903, the train has been well greased by the Indian railways to keep it chugging for over a century.

The six-hour journey from Kalka to Shimla takes the train through 107 tunnels and connects a number of hill resorts, including Dharampore, Taksal, Gamma and Solan.

The journey offers the passengers a picturesque view of the Himalayan valleys and the train has become very popular with tourists, not only from India, but also abroad.

“Basically, as you know, the Kalka Shimla line now this is world heritage this has become very important for the whole world from the monitoring point of view. We want to retain it, we want to improve it. It is an important event in my life and in railway’s life,” Y.P. Sing, divisional railway manager Ambala.

The other Indian railway sites -Darjeeling Himalayan toy train, Nilgiri Mountain Railway and Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station are already on the UNESCO list. By Hemanth Chauhan (ANI)