120-year-old Kotdwara Railway Station to be revamped

Kotdwara railway station in Uttarakhand, built by the British government in the 1890s and one of the oldest in the country, is set to receive a new lease of life after the Northern Railway has decided to develop it as the ideal railway station.

"The Kotdwara station will be developed as a model railway station and will have better facilities for passengers coming from and going to the hills," Divisional Railway Manager Ramesh Chandra told reporters here today. "This will increase the tourist inflow to Uttarakhand and boost the economy in the region," he said. Kotdwara Railway Station was constructed by the British government in 1890s as a halt for goods trains. Timber was carried from the foothills of Himalayas to the mainland by the trains. Later in 1901, passenger coaches to Delhi and other places also started plying from Kotdwara. Vikky Sharma, a local hotelier, said revamping the station would attract tourists undertaking the "Chardham Yatra", a Hindu tour of four holy places -- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.