Interesting facts: Rail transport is one of the most popular forms of transport in India. For the first time, railways appeared in India in 1853 thanks to the British, and today the total length of the road network (more than 65,000 km) is the 4th largest in the world in terms of its length. India's railways carry about 6 billion people and 350 million tons of cargo annually.
Almost the entire Indian rail industry is owned by the state-owned Indian Railways. The Locomotive Museum, which illustrates the history of the development of railways in India, was opened in 1977 on the site of an old depot in the Chanakyapuri district of Delhi.
It is worth traveling along the mountain railways of India, if only because there are real toy trains that were designed and installed more than 130 years ago by British engineers. In fairness, it must be said that it is in India that you will see outstanding examples of railways in the mountains, built taking into account the harsh conditions of the mountain landscape and lush tropical vegetation.
The first directions for the movement of this type of transport were opened between 1881 and 1908. In the process of creating amazing railway lace and serpentines, very bold and ingenious engineering solutions were used. As a result of the implementation of the project, India has received efficient railway lines laid in a mountainous area of extraordinary beauty.
The Nilgiri Mountain Railroad, located in the Tamil state of southern India, connects the city of Metupalayam with the Udagamandalam high station in the Nilgiri Mountains. The train travels a distance of 46 km in 4 hours and 50 minutes (when moving uphill), and the train descends in 3 hours and 35 minutes.
The path of this train lies along a very difficult path: 208 curves, 16 tunnels and 250 bridges. And due to the fact that the slope of the road is very large, the gearing of a steam locomotive with a special gear rack fixed to the sleepers is used here. Since the construction of the road in 1899, steam traction has been used here. Such is the unusual road.
In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Railway as an addition to the World Heritage Site of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. Then this place became known as the Mountain Railways of India.