Railways suspends Kalka -Shimla heritage line trains after ‘cracks’ on bridge: ‘What will happen during monsoon…’

Cracks emerged on a railway bridge on Friday, June 21, night following which all trains on Kalka -Shimla heritage line were suspended the following day.

" Yesterday some officers came and checked and found cracks on the railway bridge. We hope that govt tries to restore the track as soon as possible," ANI quoted Local Councillor Summer Hill Virender Thakur as saying.

As a preventative measure, the authorities suspended train service on the Shimla-Kalka narrow gauge line beyond Taradevi on June 22. This development comes after a railway bridge was washed out during monsoon last year, officials informed PTI.

According to a railway official, four out of seven trains were suspended. He said, "Four out of seven trains have been suspended while two trains are running till Taradevi and one till Kandaghat", reported PTI.

"We wonder what will happen during the upcoming monsoon season", said Shimla Hotel and Tourism Stakeholders Association President M K Seth amid the huge rush of tourists during the ongoing summer season.

The update about cracks on the railway bridge comes just a day after cracks on the ‘Atal Setu sea bridge’ surfaced. The authorities claimed that the cracks were not on the bridge but on the road leading from Ulwe in Navi Mumbai.

Connecting south Mumbai with the satellite city of Navi Mumbai, the ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu’ is also known as the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL). It was inaugurated in January this year and was built at a cost of ₹17,840 crore. The 21.8 km long six-lane bridge was constructed by the ruling BJP in collaboration with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

MMRDA, in an official statement, said that there is no crack in the main part of Atal Setu Bridge. Asserting that the cracks are minor, the statement reads. “During the inspection on 20th June 2024 by the Operation and Maintenance Team of the project, minor cracks were noticed at three places on Ramp No. 5 asphalt from Ulwe towards Mumbai which require immediate repair. M/s Strabag, the contractor of Package 4 of the Atal Setu project, has started the repair work in the said area and the work will be completed within 24 hours without any disruption to the traffic on the bridge.”

(With agency inputs)