Kundala Valley Railway was the first

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

system in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, later converted to a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

railway, that operated in Kundala Valley,

Munnar Munnar () is a town and hill station in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. Munnar is also called the "Kashmir of South Indi ...

of Idukki district in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The railway line had 35 km length.

History

Monorail (1902–1908)

Kundala Valley Railway was built in 1902 and operated between Munnar and

Top Station A top station or upper stationFor example, se''Chairlift Blausee (upper station)''at www.outdooractive.com. Retrieved 15 May 2019. is usually the highest station of an aerial lift, a funicular, a T-bar lift or a rack railway. The lowest station is ...

in the

Kannan Devan Hills Kannan Devan Hills is a large village located in Devikulam taluk of Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala. The village of Kannan Devan Hills in Devikulam Taluk, was given on lease on 11 July 1877 by the Poonjar Thampuran to John Dani ...

of Kerala . This railway was built to transport

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

and other goods. Initially a cart road was cut in 1902, then later replaced by a monorail goods carriage system along the road leading from Munnar to Top Station for the purpose of transporting tea and other products from Munnar and Madupatty to Top Station. This monorail was based on the

Ewing System The Ewing System is a balancing monorail system developed in the late 19th century by British inventor W. J. Ewing. It is not to be confused with the much later system patented by Robert W. Ewing. In the Ewing System the main wheels of the trai ...

and had a small wheel placed on the track while a larger wheel rested on the road to balance the monorail. This was similar to the Patiala State Monorail Trainways. The monorail was pulled by bullocks. Top Station was a transshipment point for delivery of tea from Munnar to

Bodinayakkanur Bodinayakanur (also shortened to Bodi) is a Town and a municipality in Theni district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology In early days, it was called by the name Thenkasiyampathi (Tamil: தென்காசியம்பதி). ...

. Tea chests arriving at Top Station were then transported by an

aerial ropeway A material ropeway, ropeway conveyor (or aerial tramway in the US) is a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended. Description Material ropeways are typically found around large mining conc ...

from Top Station down hill to the south to Kottagudi,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, which popularly became known as "Bottom Station". The tea was shipped by cart to Bodinayakkanur, then by rail to other places in India and by ship to England.

Narrow-gauge railway (1908–1924)

High range light railway before flooding in 1924

In 1908, the monorail was replaced by a narrow-gauge light railway. Light steam locomotives were used to pull trains to stations at Madupatty and Palaar.

Closure

The Great flood of 99 completely destroyed the Kundala Valley Railway in 1924, and the line was never rebuilt.

Revival efforts

In 2019, the

Kerala Tourism Department The Department of Tourism is a major government ministry under the Kerala Government that regulates and supervises tourism in Kerala. Kerala Tourism is the fastest growing state tourism department in the country and the ministry has been often ...

decided to revive the Kundala Valley Rail in lines of

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a narrow-gauge, gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It c ...

following a preliminary study that was conducted by DTPC Idukki and

Kannan Devan Hills Plantation The KDHP Tea Museum is an industry and history museum situated in Munnar, a town in the Idukki district of Kerala in South India. Tata Tea Museum is its official name, but it's also known as Nalluthanni Estate where it is located, or Kannan Devan ...

. In following October there was a high-level meeting of stake holders and officials that suggested PPP Model for implementation. In Kerala State Budget 2021

T. M. Thomas Isaac Travancore Mathew Thomas Isaac (born 26 September 1952) is an Indian politician and economist, who served as the Department of Finance (Kerala), Minister for Finance and Coir of the Indian state of Kerala and a central committee member of the Co ...

announced that Tata has agreed to provide land for the revival of rail project as a heritage rail.

Remains

The Munnar railway station building now houses the regional office of

Tata Tea Tata Consumer Products is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company and a part of the Tata Group. Its registered office is located in Kolkata while its corporate headquarters is in Mumbai. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer and d ...

. The railway tracks have been replaced by a road in front of this building. Aluminium Bridge near Munnar which was once a railway bridge on the line, has since been converted to road traffic. The

near

derived its name from this railway route it was the top most station in the rail route,

References

External links

{{Railways in Southern India Monorails in India 2 ft gauge railways in India Closed railway lines in India Defunct railway companies of India Railway companies disestablished in 1924 Rail transport in Kerala 1924 disestablishments in India Geography of Idukki district Indian companies established in 1902