Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Climbing from the hot and dusty plains of Tamil Nadu through the tea plantations of the Nilgiri Hills to the picturesque hill town of Ooty, construction of the Victorian era Nilgiri Mountain Railway was particularly challenging due to the region’s mountainous terrain. Still predominately steam pulled, the line features the steepest section of track in Asia and remains the only rack and pinion railway in India which, at the time, was the best way to overcome the extreme gradient. A 46 kilometre long meter-gauge single-track railway, the line was initially conceived during the 1850s but work did not start until 1891 and was finally finished in 1908. Featuring 16 tunnels and 250 bridges, the line is a remarkable feat of engineering and the views and scenery are breathtaking. The journey uphill from Mettupalayam to Ooty takes five hours and the downhill journey 3½ hours.
