The Kalka–Shimla heritage railway—a lifeline for commuters and a postcard route for tourists—was shut on Tuesday after successive landslides buried track sections between Koti and Kanoh, leaving wagons stranded and halting all movements pending geotechnical clearance. Railway officials said operations will remain suspended until September 5, subject to debris removal, drainage of perched water above cuttings and verification of slope stability by engineering teams. The stoppage coincides with intense rainfall across Himachal, which has already closed schools and choked highways in multiple districts. The Kalka–Shimla corridor, with its tight curves, masonry bridges and tunnels, is particularly vulnerable when saturated soils and undercut hill toes fail along steep embankments. Crews are working in narrow weather windows to shovel out mud, clear rockfall, and open culverts that clogged under high sediment loads. Authorities urged registered tour operators and hotels to offer no-penalty rebooking for travellers and to coordinate with district control rooms for safe road diversions where feasible. The suspension also affects local vendors and daily commuters who use the line to access services between Solan and Shimla; bus operators reported increased loads and advised riders to expect delays and dynamic route changes as PWD clears slide zones. Travel advisories through the day warned against non-essential hill driving and reminded visitors that intermittent road openings can create false confidence before fresh slides close a stretch again. With the IMD maintaining warnings for heavy to very heavy rain, the railways said resumption will depend on site-specific slope inspections, tunnel seepage checks and verification that drainage is functioning along vulnerable benches. For a tourism-dependent economy, the temporary shutdown is a stark mid-monsoon reality check—and a reminder that heritage infrastructure built a century ago must now be managed with climate-era vigilance, better hillside bio-engineering and year-round slope health audits. This is a web generated news report.
