By IANS
Shimla : A Unesco team of experts began examining the Kalka-Shimla rail track Tuesday, in Himachal Pradesh, to decide whether to grant it an official world heritage status.
The two-member team headed by Robert Lee, a Unesco consultant, will study the 96 km century-old track for the next three days and submit its report.
Indian railways hopes to get heritage status for the track like the Darjeeling railway line, to boost its earnings from tourism.
“Besides the railway track, tunnels, bridges and railway stations, we are minutely studying all the relics along the railway track,” Lee said Tuesday.
“We will also interact with the Indian government,” he added.
The British built the Kalka-Shimla rail track and the first train was flagged off by Lord Curzon in 1903.
The track rises from 650 metres to almost 2,100 metres and passes through 103 tunnels, 969 bridges, 919 curves and 18 railway stations during its journey.