The Kangra Valley Railway is a gauge railway that runs from Pathankot, Punjab to Jogindernagar in Himachal Pradesh. It runs through the sub-Himalayan region of Kangra Valley and is long.The railway is part of the Jammu division of Northern Railway. The highest point on this line is Ahju station at an elevation of . There are 33 stops and 950 bridges.7 breathtaking rails, India.com, 2019.
History Though original intent of Kangra Railway was to open up Kangra & Kullu valleys for their rich natural resources like timber as well as minerals, and surveys were also carried out in 1912 and 1914 for the same purpose. However, the prospects of such a project were not remunerative enough for the government and therefore, the idea was dropped. However, with proposed Uhl Hydropower project at Shanan, this project was again revived in the budget of 1926–1927.
On May 2, 1926, the ground breaking ceremony of Kangra Valley Railway(KVR) was performed by William Malcolm Hailey, the then Governor of Punjab Province. The construction of Kangra Valley Railway was entrusted to North Western State Railway(NWR) under Capt. E.B.N Taylor, Superintendent of Works. The long section between Pathankot and Nagrota was completed on 1 December 1928. Thus, a portion of KVR was opened for freight transportation at that time. While the rest of section from Nagrota to Joginder Nagar was completed on 1 April 1929. Hence, the KVR was also opened for passengers in April 1929. Though original cost to build the KVR was estimated to be Rs 113 Lakhs, however, due to cost overruns and project delays, the final expenditure incurred on KVR was almost Rs. 296 Lakh, more than double from original estimate. In 1942, at the time when World War II was at its peak, a section of the line and other Iron infrastructure from Nagrota to Joginder Nagar was dismantled and shipped off for British operations in the Middle East as a part of War effort, which caused disruption in the Operation of KVR. At that time the Line was temporarily truncated beyond Nagrota and operational section was only from Pathankot to Nagrota. It was only after 12 long years, post-Independence on 15 April 1954, that the infrastructure of KVR was restored and its operations resumed when Lal Bahadur Shastri, was Railway Minister of India. Again in 1973, when the Maharana Pratap Sagar was constructed, a small section of about on KVR had to be realigned to the reservoir. Hence, the line was dismantled between Jawanwala Shahr and Guler on 11 April 1973 and diverted onto higher grounds along the eastern shore of the new reservoir. The Older section between these two stations, along with Anur and Mangwal stations was abandoned, and the new alignment with several new stations opened three years later on 29 December 1976.
Technical details of KVR The entire length of the of Kangra Valley Railway starting from plains of Pathankot (383.820m amsl) in Punjab up to Joginder Nagar (1184.160m amsl) in the foothills of Dhauladhar ranges in Mandi District blends with the landscapes of Kangra Valley which is overlooked by snow clad mighty Dhauladhar Ranges.
Hence, negotiating this line through such hilly terrain marked with steep climbs, gaping valleys through which flow, the violent and loud streams, was not an easy task. Therefore, construction of line on such a terrain involved construction of various Bridges, Blasting of Rocks for cut sections and Tunnels. Therefore, this makes KVR a unique Railway in terms of following notable features in its short span of about . Total bridges= 993 Total curves 484, with Curve number 300, being the sharpest (). Total tunnels = 2 Tunnels- Dhundi and Daulatpur . Maximum gradient= 1 ft in 25 ft, Just beyond Baijnath Paprola (BJPL) Station.
Signalling on KVR
Safety mechanism KVR uses the Neale's Ball Token based signalling system. It is an electro-mechanical instrument invented by J.E. Neale, who was the Telegraph Superintendent of the erstwhile Great Indian Peninsular(GIP) Railway (Now Central railway) and first used in 1933. It ensures safety of train operations, particularly on a single line KVR, by dispensing tokens. These tokens are the authority given by stationmaster to Loco Pilot to enter the block (section between the two stations). The token is in the form of metal balls, with varying diameter, which is released by a Ball token instrument at each station. Only One token is issued for each direction at a time after ensuring that previous train has already cleared the section and there is no other train between the station. Hence the Instrument releases token only when the line is clear for proceeding to next station. Each station has one such instrument for each direction, which are electrically connected to similar instruments provided at the adjoining stations on either side. This ensures that only one train can enter the block sections at a time. These metal Balls are strung on a ring and given to the Loco Pilot and at the same time the ball token ring given to loco pilot by preceding station is received from him. Neale's Ball Token based signalling system has been an integral part and heritage of KVR. Very few Railway lines apart from KVR use Neale's Ball Token system.
Block signalling
For the signalling on the block, the Two-aspect Lower Quadrant(2LQ) Semaphore signalling is used on KVR. The Semaphore can only be in two positions. The horizontal 'ON' position shows the most restrictive indication (requiring the train to stop or slow down or proceed with caution depending on the kind of signal), and A lowered position where the semaphore arm is at about 60 degrees or more from the horizontal shows the clear or proceed indication allowing a train to go past the signal.
It is a Two-aspect color-lamp signalling in which each signal has two glass lenses (one above the other). The higher of the two Lamps is a green lamp, and the lower one is a red lamp. The green lamp when lit indicates 'Clear' (the proceed indication), and when the red lamp is lit, the signal is said to be in the 'ON' position, displaying its most restrictive indication. It utilizes a single wire or cable connecting the signal lever at the cabin, where the signal frame is located; to the actual semaphore mechanism on the signal post. Operating the signal lever to take the signal off causes the transmission wire to be pulled, moving the semaphore arm to the required aspect.
Route details of KVR In terms of elevation as well as general direction of line, KVR Line can be divided into 3 sections.
Section A: Pathankot to Guler
It is about long section and starts from Pathankot Junction to Chakki Bridge in Punjab. Pathankot has loco shed, carriage sub-deport of Kangra Valley railway. Line leaves pathankot from the east of the town, passes a number of level crossings, after which the rural nature of line becomes apparent. It makes its first call at Dalhousie road station, which has a passing loop. After the line leaves this station, it heads south and crosses the Chakki river bridge. After crossing chakki bridge, train heads eastwards once more towards the next station at Kandwal. For a while, no trains made a call at Kandwal, however, now the halt has been reinstated. Both Dalhousie Road and Kandwal halt were additional stops, not in the original plans, which were added sometimes during late 1970s to early 1980s, after reopening of line through new diversionary route.
Next station is Nurupur Road, which connects Nurpur town, erstwhile capital of medieval dynasty of Pathania rulers. As line leaves Nurpur Town, it takes a southwards loop to reach Talara, the next stop on KVR.
After leaving Talara, train descends into the Beas river and Pong Dam Basin . The line continues in South-South-Easterly direction to reach, Balle Da Pir Larath and Bharmar, the next two stops respectively. The next station is Jawanwala Shahr, which serves Jawali, a small town. It is from this stop that the line had to be diverted from its original route, which formerly headed southwards serving the erstwhile stations of Anur and Mangwal, both of which have been abandoned.
In this new route, the Line takes a Northward curve to cross the Dehar Bridge. This bridge is relatively of new construction in order for line to cross the highest water levels of tributary of Beas river. After crossing the bridge it takes southward turn continues in this direction to make call at Harsar Dehri station and Megh Rajpura Halt, the next two stops on Line. As line leaves Megh Rajpura station, it crosses the New Gaj River bridge, still maintains Southeasterly direction, and serves Nagrota Suriyan, Barial Himachal and Nandpur Bhatoli, the next three halts on the line. As the train leaves Nandpur Bhatauli, there comes the Mehla Khad Viaduct. As, the Train crosses Mahla viaduct, one can see the piers of former bridge on the old alignment, indicating that the new line is converging with its former alignment. After a short distance, the line curves around to head east and rejoins the older line. Then, the line heads to the north and makes call at Guler station which marks the end of first section of KVR line. The station is equipped with a pit on the platform road to enable examination of rolling stock.
Section B: Guler to Palampur
This is approx long section in which the line starts following northern direction. As the Line leaves Guler, it takes a more northerly course, heading up on the western bank of Banganga river, also known as Baner Khad. Distant Snowcapped Dhauladhar mountains become visible, signifying that ranges are getting closer. As, the line leaves Lunsu Halt, the next station after Guler, the valley narrows down further, the Line crosses the gorge over Banganga Bridge. After making the halt at Tripal, the next station on the line, it makes for the next halt at Jawalamukhi Road, which is an important station as pilgrims vising Jwalaji Temple alight here.
After leaving the Jawalamukhi Road station, the terrain becomes more challenging. The line makes a graceful curve over the Bathu Bridge, passing over the Hanuman Temple in gorge below before reaching the Dhundi Tunnel, the first of the two tunnels. Then comes the Kopar Lahar station which is followed by the second and longer Daulatpur tunnel with a length of . One can also get a glimpse of ancient Kangra fort on this section as train approaches Kangra Station which is on the opposite cliff on the gorge made by Baner Khad.
After leaving the Kangra station, the Line comes across the Reond Gorge, spanned over by a spectacular steel arch bridge. After this, the panoramic view of Dhauladhar mountains becomes more or less a permanent feature. As the line proceeds, it takes an easterly direction and gets called at Samloti, followed by Nagrota Stations. Nagrota was the temporary terminus of the line between 1942 and 1954, when the track to the east of Nagrota was dismantled for WW-II supplies. There are a number of sidings on this station, which are out of use at present. The Line continues Eastwards and next stations to follow are Chamunda Marg Halt, Paror and Sulah Himachal Pradesh, respectively. These stations connect the rural areas of Palampur Tehsil with KVR.
The next station is a significant one, that is Palampur Himachal, which is home to a number of offices of KVR, including Line Managers as well as railway officer's Rest House and a Heritage Bungalow. It also has a Computerised reservation counter to facilitate booking for broad Gauge Trains in other parts of the country. This marks the end of second section of KVR Line. It could be called as pilgrim section, since many temples, both ancient and modern like Jwala Ji, Brijeswhwari Mata, Chamunda Mandir, Dalai Lama Temple at Mcleodganj lie on this section.
Section C: Palampur to Joginder Nagar