The railways built in the mountainous regions of India are collectively known as the Mountain railways of India. Four of these railways are running in 2007:
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Siliguri situated at the base of the Himalayas is connected to Darjeeling Hill Cart Road on which "Tonga services" (carriage services)used to be available . Franklin Prestage of Eastern Bengal Railway Company proposed laying a train line Siliguri to Darjeeling which was accepted following a positive report of a committee formed by Sir Ashley Eden. Gillander Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway and the Siliguri to Kurseong stretch was opened on 23 August 1880, while the line up to Darjeeling was opened on 4 July 1881. Several engineering adjustments were made while construction of the railway line in order to ease the gradient of the rails. DHR continued to improve with new extension lines.Recently DHR is facing competition from bus services that operates on the Hill Cart Road, and takes less time than the railway to reach Darjeeling. During World War 2, DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.
After the independence of India, DHR became a part of Indian Railways, and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958. The line was later realigned at Siliguri and extended by to New Jalpaiguri (NJP). DHR was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. It is only the second railway to be honoured, the first one being Semmering Railway of Austria in 1998.
· Nilgiri Mountain Railway : This is the only cogwheel railway line in india and runs on steam engines.
· Kalka-Shimla Railway
· Matheran Hill Railway
The collective designation by the Indian government is an attempt to nominate a representative example of its historic railways to UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was recognized in 1999, while the Nilgiri Mountain Railway was added as an extension to the site in 2005. They were recognized for being outstanding examples of bold, ingenious engineering solutions for the problem of establishing an effective rail link through a rugged, mountainous terrain.
Both the Kalka-Shimla Railway and the Matheran Hill Railway are on the tentative nomination list for that site.
1 comment:
Good post. Its really useful. One of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in India, Matheran Hill Railways offer a unique experience as it goes through tunnels on mountains surrounded by lush greenery and sweeping views of the adjoining areas. Check out all mountain railways in India also.
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