Kalka-Shimla Heritage Railway line restoration work starts in Himachal

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 1 : The restoration has started on the Kalka-Shimla heritage railway line in Summer Hill which was damaged on August 14 due to floods, landslides and heavy rainfall. 
The local residents are waiting for the train to start on this heritage track which was damaged on August 14. On August 14, the floods and landslides due to heavy rain damaged a temple where 20 people died. Over a century-old railway track was also damaged in the floods in Summer Hills. The Kalka-Shimla railway line was also damaged at several locations in Solan and Shimla districts during the monsoon season.
“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 as the Railway authorities have told us that the train will start after September 15,” said Naveen Sharma, a local resident.
The migrant labourers here are working hard to speed up the restoration work. They are taking an hour to transport the material through the railway trolley as there is no road and railway connectivity.
“We are transporting the material to restore this railway track here. It takes us one hour to transport the few bags of cement, stone and other materials, it is a different experience. I never worked and transported any material in a trolley like this, it is taking us long. This track was damaged due to rain and the restoration has started here. Today we have 8 people working here and will continue to work,” said Raju, a labourer
“I came here three months ago from the Chamba district of the state. The railway track and station here are giving a deserted look. This Railway station used to be full of liveliness with energy and locals and tourists used to rush here. These days the restoration has started and the engineers have been working here for the past two or three days. We want to see the normalcy here back again,” said Parinay Rana, Local student
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. It has been a great tourist attraction after these tourists would rush through this train in the hills. 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.