 India’s railway stations are rarely just places to catch a train. Some are grand architectural landmarks; others are tiny hill stations surrounded by mountains, forests or tea gardens. And on some of India’s most spectacular railways, simply arriving at the station can be an experience in itself.
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 Rewari Railway Heritage Museum by Sudhirkbhargava, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons For anyone fascinated by steam locomotives, there are certain railway destinations that simply have to be on the list. Rewari, in Haryana, is one of them.
Tucked away just north of Rewari railway station, the Rewari Steam Loco Shed is a remarkable survivor from India's steam railway era. Built in 1893, it was once a major locomotive depot on the metre-gauge network. Today, it has a very different role: preserving some of India's most important surviving steam locomotives and keeping the story of steam alive for future generations.  Kangra Valley train by Guleri sahil, CC BY-SA 4.0 There are plenty of famous railway journeys in India. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka Shimla Railway attract railway enthusiasts from around the world, and quite rightly so. But tucked away in the foothills of the Himalayas is another railway that deserves far more attention.
 Tucked into the lower reaches of the Himalayas, the Kalka-Shimla Railway is one of India’s most captivating rail journeys. While the Darjeeling line often steals the spotlight, this narrow-gauge route offers something just as memorable, a gentle, unhurried climb into the hills where the landscape shifts almost imperceptibly from plains to pine-covered slopes.
Originally opened in 1903, the railway was built to connect Kalka with the hill station of Shimla, then the summer capital of British India. Before the line existed, the journey uphill was long and uncomfortable, involving horse-drawn carriages and winding mountain roads. The railway transformed that experience entirely, turning what had been an ordeal into something far more civilised, and far more enjoyable.  Freight Train at Indian Railway Station Platform Narrow, Metre & Broad Gauge ExplainedMost countries standardised their railway systems early on. One track gauge, one network, fewer complications. India took a different approach, largely out of necessity rather than design.
Today, the country still has three railway gauges, broad, metre and narrow. While broad gauge now dominates, the others haven’t entirely disappeared. Together, they reflect how the railway developed across very different regions, budgets and terrain. For anyone interested in rail travel in India or planning a rail holiday, these differences are more than technical detail. They shape the journeys themselves. |
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