Heritage station on Shimla line gutted in blaze

The heritage Kandaghat railway station on the Kalka-Shimla heritage railway line, built entirely of wood, was gutted in a devastating fire on Tuesday morning. No one was injured.

Kandaghat is 25 km from Shimla. The entire station located on the Kalka-Shimla track in Solan district, and built by the British in 1903, was destroyed in the fire. The 108-year-old station on the Unesco heritage Kalka-Shimla route was connected to Chail, a popular tourist destination.

The irreplaceable heritage property worth crores of rupees was reduced to cinders. Five fire engines took more than five hours to control the blaze. "Prima facie, it seems a short circuit caused the fire," a Northern Railway official said.

The fire broke out around 2 am and was brought under control only around 5 am. The railway quarters, the canteen, the ticket counters and the station masters' offices were gutted.

The Ambala division of Northern Railway has set up an enquiry panel drawn from officers from safety, operations and engineering to head the team, the railway official said.

All office records from the times of the British were also burnt. Assistant station master Sandeep Singh and his family managed to rush out of their house in the premises and were saved.