Shivalik Express: Toy Train from kalka to Shimla
The best way to reach Shimla is to travel by Toy train from Kalka. The railway track is small in width between Kalka and Shimla and is known as meter gauge track opened by British Government in the year 1903. The distance of 96 KM between Shimla and Kalka passes through 102 tunnels and 87 bridges. There are more than 20 stations in this railway system which still uses the old Neales Token Instrument system for track interlocking. It connects Kalka at a height of 656 meter to Shimla at 2076 meter from mean sea level. There are around 900 curves and sharpest curve is of 48 degree. The five hour journey is one of the best train journeys for tourist operated by Indian railway. For updated train time and schedule visit the Indian railway site.
On July 2nd 2008 UNESCO’s world heritage committee has decided to add Kalka–Shimla Railway to world heritage list & in a function at Kalka on 9th Nov 2008 this railway line was officially declared by UNESCO as world heritage site.
Each train can take 210 passengers and in a day around 1000 passengers mostly tourists use this train to visit Shimla. The ticket in the trains varies from Rs 19 to Rs 280-/ . There are deluxe , honeymoon , chair car , rail car compartments in the train.
The train route passes through beautiful valley and hills and most of the time moves in up word direction (climbing) through out its journey ending at Shimla the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Most of the time during the journey from Kalka to Shimla the valley falls in right side of the train.
The best train in this line is Shivalik Deluxe Express which starts in the early morning from Kalka. You can reach Kalka in the morning by traveling in different trains if you don't want to stay for a night at Kalka.
Shivalik experess is connecting train for the Howrah ( Kolkata ) to Kalka Mail which reaches Kalka station at 04.45 AM. This train passes through Delhi ( old Delhi ) railway station, so this is the convenient train to reach Kalka from Delhi to catch Shivalik express. This train starts from Delhi station for Kalka at 22.00 hours but its arrival time at Delhi is 20.40 hours. During its more than an hour stay at Delhi station the train is cleaned and prepared for its next phase of journey to Kalka.
We reached Kalka at 4.45 AM and Shivalk exp departure time was 5.30 AM. But check the timing from Indian Railway before planning your journey. As both the platforms were side by side (broad gauge and meter gauge) we could board Shivalik Exp without any difficulty.
The coaches are equipped with reversible cushioned chairs, foldable table for serving food, wall-to-wall carpeting and wide glass windows. Windows can be opened. Toilet is there in each compartment. The train starts climbing the hill within five minutes of starting the journey.
With a speed of not more than 25 Km / hour the train will take you to Shimla the summer capital of erstwhile British India.
Shivalik express does not have any official stops between the journey, only it stopped at BAROG where food packets were loaded to the train. All attendants loaded the food packs based on the number of passengers traveling in the compartment. If required you can book extra breakfast before the Barog station on payment. The attendant will take a note before loading the food packs if you are a vegetarian. The breakfast is complementary in the upward journey ( to Shimla ) and dinner is included in your ticket in downward ( to Kalka ) journey. It was a memorable experience to have my breakfast on the train while passing through tunnels and bridges. 
BAROG was the name of a British engineer who was incharge of digging the longest tunnel in this rail network. He started his work from both ends of the hill and unfortunately the two ends didn't align and never met. British government fined Rs 1 to him for wasting govt money. He was under depression and committed suicide.
On your way you can see SOLAN BREWERY and many other small passenger stops. Shivalik exp took nearly 5 hours for us but other trains take more than 6 hours to cover the distance of 96 Kms. During our journey most of the rivers were dry or left with little water as this part of the State gets water through rain. After passing through tunnels, rivers and valleys we finally reached Shimla which is the last stop for this train and end of the rail track.Shivalik Train No 52451
Ticket Booking - Booking for this train is to be done in much advance during summer seasons particularly in April – May – Jun months. Similarly there will be a rush during Dasara holidays. Dasara function usually falls in the month of October. From last week of December to First week of January many tourist from Delhi, Chandigarh and nearby places visit Shimla to celebrate new year. During these times book your tickets much in advance.
Booking can be done from irctc.co.in website. For Shivalik Express tickets can be booked 90 days before and for other trains it is one month. For example booking will open on Aug 21st 8 AM for Himalayan Queen for the date of Journey of 20th Sep. But for the same date of journey ( Sep 20th ) if you are booking on 22nd Aug then you can book at 5 AM. Please check the updated reservation schedule at IRCTC.co.in website.
Rail Motor is a single compartment train, it has transparent roof top. This is like a bus running on a rail track. Limited number of sitting arrangements available in this and this one runs in tourist seasons only. This does not have a toilet facility. Booking for this is available one month before only.
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