Kangra Valley Railway
The Kangra Valley Railway ( KVR) is a narrow gauge railway on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in India. Your track width is 762 mm (2 feet 6 inches ). On a length of 164 km, it overcomes from Pathankot to Joginder Nagar a height difference of 689 meters. It has two tunnels and bridges over 900.
History
In 1925, the planning for a system of five hydroelectric power plants near the village Sukrahatti, today Joginder Nagar began. The first plant, the Shanan Power House was to be built. To handle the extensive material transports a narrow gauge railway siding was provided, which should lead by Mukerian for power plant construction site.
The Ministry of Railways approved the building under extensive conditions. So the starting point of the railway was moved to Pathankot and the track width was set to 2 feet 6 inches (analogous to the Kalka - Shimla Railway). The prescribed route led to a connection of the British -used mountain towns and important places of pilgrimage in the Kangra Valley to the railroad.
Construction began in early May 1926. On 1 December 1928, the track was so far completed that the freight could be included. For passenger transport, the line was opened on 1 April 1929. The cost for the railway construction totaled 29.6 million rupees.
In 1942 the section was Nagrota - Joginder Nagar shut down as a result of the Second World War and removed to obtain construction material for military purposes. After India's independence, the section was rebuilt and reopened on 15 April 1954.
With the progress of the construction work on the Pong Dam, the operation had to be interrupted for three years from 1973 and the track section Jawanwala Shahr - mined Guler and be realigned to 25 km in length.
The illegal mining of sand and gravel in the river bed of the Chakki caused erosion damage that threaten the foundations of the bridges over the river. So on 9 July 2007 caused the collapse of the adjacent road bridge damage to the bridge of the KVR, which had to be closed then. On 9 September the same year a multi-day lock was again necessary.
On the night of August 13, 2011, the line was interrupted due to severe storms at Dalhousie Road and between Bajinath and Palampur by landslides. A tidal wave of the river Chakki washed away the pier No. 4 and brought it crashing down .. After seven months of interruption, the bridge was passable again, so that on 1 April 2012, the operation could be resumed. In the subsequent trial, it was found that the reason for the collapse is not defective maintenance, but the ongoing illegal sand and gravel mining in the vicinity of the bridge was.
Route
The path must begin at Pathankot, Punjab and performs 164 km to Joginder Nagar in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The route continues for another as siding about 2 km uphill to the Shanan Power House. There is connection to a funicular that leads to the pressure piping along to an altitude of 2,400 m.
Operating machinery service
All locomotives for operation of the KVR are stationed in the Loco Shed Pathankot. In 2012, there were 10 four-axle diesel locomotives of the ZDM -3 and Class 4 locomotives largely identical class ZDM -4 in use. All vehicles of the Kangra Valley Railway are equipped with a vacuum brake.
In Pathankot there for a narrow-gauge railway engine shed, a water tower, inspection pits and a turntable that can be used for wide - and narrow-gauge vehicles. The diesel locomotives are turned in Pathankot and Baijnath, so that each of the shorter stem in the direction of travel is on the road ahead. Between Joginder Nagar and Baijnath the locomotives go ahead with the longer stem.
In Baijnath Paprola there is a roundhouse and an inspection pit, which is now used by more than eight vehicles. During steam operation was here because of the subsequent pitch route ahju a pusher locomotive stationed.
Freight traffic
From the opening of the railway to the completion of Shanan Power House in 1932, all building materials, machinery and imported from the UK power plant equipment were transported.
Agricultural products were from the beginning, an important mode of transport of the KVR. The potato harvest from the surrounding valleys was brought by mules according to Joginder Nagar, where it was loaded onto the train and transported to markets in West Bengal. Joginder Nagar thereby became the temporary main potato market in northern India. Palampur was loading station for the grown here Kangra tea.
Passenger
Four of the seven daily beginning in Pathankot trains run only to Baijnath Paprola (km 141), a fifth already ends in Jawalamukhi Road ( km 83 ). Seat reservation is not possible.
Future
The Kangra Valley Railway is on the list of candidates as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In contrast, there are plans by the Ministry of Railways to replace the Kangra Valley Railway by a broad gauge railway to extend 48 km by Mandi and there at the planned route also Bilaspur - to connect Leh - Manali. The cost of the route extension is estimated at 130 million rupees, the cost estimate for the replacement of the narrow gauge railway is at 28.88 million rupees for diesel operation and 32.79 million rupees for electrical operation.