TOP STATION IS about 20 miles from Munnar (in Kerala) and 5500 feet above sea level. Today, it is a popular tourist attraction, providing visitors with magnificent views of several ranges of hills. The place gets its name because it was the highest station on a railway that no longer exists.
Between 1902 and 1908, a monorail system used for transporting locally harvested tea was built to connect Munnar with Top Station. In 1908, this was replaced by a narrow-gauge railway the Kundala Valley Railway. Tea was transported to Top Station, where it was loaded onto a ropeway that carried it down 3 miles to a village, Kottagudi, in Tamil Nadu. From there, it was transported to other parts of India. Sadly, the railway was washed away during a severe flood in 1924, and was never replaced.
Top Station was not only important as a railway Terminus, but also as a place on a road that was improved by the British in 1942, when it was feared that Chennai, which had been bombed, might be invaded by the Japanese.
Following the bombing, which caused little damage, people fled from Chennai, the wealthy to hill station, and the less well-known off to villages and towns far from the east coast. Meanwhile, the British built what became known as the Escape Road, which ran across the high mountains between Kodaikanal and Munnar. This 50 mile road linked roads from Madras with roads from Munnar to Kochi (Cochin), from where troops could leave India if necessary.
The Escape Road, which reaches 8140 feet was the highest road in India South of the Himalayas. The road remained in use until 1990. After this date, it fell into disused because neither Tamil Nadu nor Kerala were prepared to pay for its upkeep.
As a result of the closing of the former Escape Road, travellers between Munnar and Kodaikanal have to travel on other roads. The present road route is 105 miles instead of 50 miles taken by the disused road.
Top Station is well worth visiting. The views from over the precipice are amazing. To see them, one needs to elbow aside the numerous people posing for photographs or taking ‘selfies’. Unfortunately, the viewpoint itself is covered with litter left by tourists.
yamey 