Kalka-Shimla Railway

Opened in 1903 to connect the summer capital to the plains, the line runs ninety-six kilometres on two-foot-six gauge, climbing from 656 metres at Kalka to 2,076 at Shimla through 102 tunnels and over eight hundred bridges, many of them multi-tiered stone arcades built like Roman aqueducts because steel was hard to bring up. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2008 as part of the Mountain Railways of India. Trains take five to six hours, winding through pine forest and around spurs with the valley dropping away, and the Barog tunnel, the longest, carries a story about the engineer who miscalculated its alignment.

History

Shimla became the summer capital of British India in 1864, which meant moving the whole government between Calcutta and the hills twice a year by horse and ox cart, and once the broad-gauge line to Kalka opened in 1891 a branch up the mountain became feasible. After surveys from 1884 onwards and debate between rack and adhesion lines, the privately funded Delhi-Ambala-Kalka Railway Company began building in 1898, with Herbert Septimus Harington as chief engineer and Sujan Singh Hadaliwale as chief contractor; the gauge was widened from 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches under a revised contract of 1901 at the army's request, and the 95.68-kilometre line opened on 9 November 1903, dedicated by Lord Curzon, at twice its estimated cost. On 8 July 2008 it was added to the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Kalka-Shimla Railway).

What to look for

• The arched viaducts - multi-tiered stone bridges built like aqueducts.
• The tunnels - 102 of them, including the long Barog tunnel.
• The climb - 1,400 metres gained across ninety-six kilometres.
• The forest sections - pine and deodar with valley views from the carriages.

When to go

March to June and September to November; the monsoon brings landslides that suspend services. Tickets, especially on the Shivalik Deluxe and Himalayan Queen, sell out weeks ahead in season.

Things to know

The journey is slow, five to six hours for less than a hundred kilometres. Carriages are small and can be cramped. Services are cancelled after monsoon landslides, sometimes for extended periods.

Nearby

Shimla is the upper terminus; Chandigarh lies below Kalka.

Key facts