Traffic on Kalka-Shimla track restored

Rail traffic on the Kalka-Shimla track -- a world heritage site -- was disrupted for over two hours on Wednesday in Himachal Pradesh owing to landslides following rainfall, an official said.

"Traffic on the rail line was restored after clearing of the muck and huge boulders that had blocked the tracks," a railway official told IANS.

Landslides were reported at several places near Koti town in Solan district, some 65 km from the state capital. However, no train service was cancelled.

Toy trains -- as they are popularly called -- run on the century-old Kalka-Shimla rail line. Each train has seven coaches and can accommodate nearly 200 passengers.

The 96-km narrow gauge railroad -- originally built to ferry Europeans to Shimla, the then summer capital of British India -- was chosen by the UNESCO as a world heritage site in 2008.

--IANS

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