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Mountain Railways of India The site includes the three railways built in the mountainous region of India and collectively they are known as the Mountain Railways of India. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was the first, and is the most outstanding example of hill passenger railway opened in 1881 while the Nilgiri Mountain Railway was next one, though proposed in 1854, was begun in 1891 and completed in 1908 due to the difficulty of the mountainous location which scales an elevation of 326m to 2,203m. The last one is the Kalka Shimla Rilway; this 96.6 km railway stretches from Kalka to Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. They were recognized for being outstanding examples of bold, ingenious engineering solutions for the problem of establishing an effective rail link through a rugged, mountainous terrain. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a unique example of construction genius employed by railway engineers in the latter part of the 19th century. The manner in which height is gained in this railway by utilizing various loops and zigzag reversing stations is remarkable. This line also has the distinction of passing through the second highest railway station in the world. This railway also exhibits an important interchange of human values, as it brought about a change in the life-style of the people living in the area. It is about 86 km long and since 1999 the train has been listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. The Nilgiri Mountain railway is one of the oldest mountain railways in India and was initially operated by the Madra Railway Company, and is a meter-gauge single track railway that connects the town of Mettupalayam to the hill station Ooty in Tamil Naidu State. In July 2005, UNESCO added this to World Heritage Site. The train covers a distance of 46 km (28 miles), travels through 208 curves, 16 tunnels, and 250 bridges. The uphill journey takes around 290 minutes (4.8 hours), and the downhill journey takes 215 minutes (3.6 hours). The Kalka Shimla Railway (KSR) is a hill passenger railway with a single narrow-gauge track 96.6 km long. Its construction was planned in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla, at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres, which at the time was the summer residence of the colonial government. It is constructed in a particularly difficult mountain environment for two-thirds of the line's length, required a great deal of engineering design work, and was finally completed at the turn of the century (1899-1903). It is known for breathtaking views of the hills and surrounding villages and was included in the UNIESCO World Heritage List on July 7th 2008. World Heritage Site IndiaAgra Fort | Ajanta Caves | Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi | Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park | Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus | Churches and Convents of Goa| The Elephant Caves | Ellora Caves | Fatehpur Sikri | Great Living Chola TemplesGroup of Monuments at Hampi | Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram | Group of Monuments at Pattadakal | Humanyun’s Tomb, Delhi | Khajuraho Group of Monuments | Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya | Mountain Railways of India The Qutab Minar and its Monuments | Red Fort Complex | Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka Sun Temple, Konârak | Taj Mahal, Agra | Natural |