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The Mountain railways of India are the railway lines that were built in the mountainous regions of India. The term mainly includes the narrow gauge and metre gauge railways in these regions but may also include some broad gauge railways. Three of the lines, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and the Kalka–Shimla Railway, are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name "Mountain Railways of India". Two more, the Matheran Hill Railway and the Kangra Valley Railway, are on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is also the only rack and pinion railway in India. Mountain railways, such as the Jammu–Baramulla line and the Chota Char Dham Railway, are currently under construction, and others are in the planning stage, such as the Srinagar–Leh line and the Bhanupli–Leh line. All the mountain railways constructed in recent times use broad gauge.

Three railways, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka–Shimla Railway are collectively designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Mountain Railways of India. The Matheran Hill Railway and Kangra Valley Railway are on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway received the honor first in 1999 by UNESCO followed by the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in 2005. The Kalka–Shimla Railway received the designation in 2008. The three routes together have been titled the Mountain Railways of India under UNESCO World Heritage Site criteria ii and iv, within the Asia Pacific region. The Matheran Hill Railway, a fourth mountain line, has been nominated and is pending approval by the international body.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, with the nickname "the Toy Train," is a narrow gauge railway that links the between Siliguri and Darjeeling. The latter is a major summer hill station and the centre of a flourishing tea growing district located in West Bengal. The route is operated by Indian Railways., and its elevation starts at in Siliguri and rises to about at Darjeeling. The highest elevation is at Ghoom station,
The town of Siliguri, the start of the railway route, was connected with Calcutta (now Kolkata) via railway in 1878, while the additional journey to Darjeeling required the use of tongas (horse driven carts) along a dust track. On the recommendations of a committee appointed by Sir Ashley Eden, work on the route began in 1879 and was completed by July 1881. The line underwent several improvements such as making its gradients more gradual over the years to increase its manoeuvrability. By 1909–1910, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was carrying roughly 174,000 passengers and 47,000 tons of goods annually. The railway is notable for its signage located at key vantage points, marking locations with titles such as Agony Point and Sensation Corner. Another feature are spirals on steep hills that provide scenic views of the valleys below. In 1999, the Darjeeling line was the first to be recognized by UNESCO and placed on the World Heritage List. A condition of being placed upon the list was that steam locomotives would continue to be used along the route. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2005. Initially, the town of Coonoor was the final station on the line, but in September 1908 it was extended to Fernhill followed by Udagmandalam by October15, 1908. The system was described by Guilford Lindsey Molesworth in a report from 1886:

blockquote|Two distinct functions – first that of traction by adhesion as in an ordinary loco; second that of traction by pinions acting on the track bars. The brakes are four in number – two handbrakes, acting by friction; and two acting by preventing the free escape of air from cylinder and thus using compressed air in retarding the progress of the engine. The former are used for shunting while the later for descending steep gradients. One of the handbrakes acts on the tyres of the wheels in the ordinary manner and the second acts on grooved surfaces of the pinion axle, but can be used in those places where the rack is laid.

The Kalka–Shimla Railway runs between Kalka and Shimla. The railway is long, and its gauge is narrow 2 feet 6 inches. and is at an elevation of in the foothills of the Himalayas. It became the summer capital of British India in 1864, and it also served as the headquarters of the British Army in India. The line, which is part of the Northern Railway, was planned in May 1926 and commissioned in 1929. The line has 971 uniquely designed bridges and two tunnels. Two particularly important bridge structures are the steel arch bridge over the Reond nalah and the girder bridge over the Banganga River. Though the gradient of the line is generally gentle, the critical reach with steep slopes is at the stretch, which is wide and has a slope of 1:19 and approach slopes of 1:31 and 1:25. The terminus stretch between Baijnath and Jogindernagar has a slope of 1:25.

The Jammu–Baramulla line is a 1676 railway line being built in India to connect the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. The railway starts from Jammu and will travel to Baramulla. The route crosses major earthquake zones and is subjected to extreme temperatures of cold and heat, as well as inhospitable terrain, making it a challenging engineering project. The railway line has been under construction since 2002, when it was declared a national project. It will link the state's winter capital, Jammu, with the summer capital, Srinagar, and beyond until Baramulla. The railway line has been built from Jammu to Katra, and the line from Katra to Banihal may be completed by 2020.

The Srinagar–Leh line is a proposed railway line to run from Srinagar station via the town of Kargil to Leh to be operated by Indian Railways. The line was designated a national project on February26, 2013. The Bhanupli–Leh line is a proposed railway line that is planned to connect Bhanupli in Punjab to Leh in Ladakh region in India. The Bhanupli–Leh line is expected to become the highest railway track in the world by its completion, overtaking the current record of China's Qinghai–Tibet railway. The Chota Char Dham Railway has two different Y shaped railways, comprising individual rail lines: the Doiwala–Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway, a route; the Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway, a route with "Y" fork connection at Uttarkashi from the Gangotri railway above; the Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway, a route; and Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway, a with "Y" fork connection at Saikot from the Kedarnath railway above. The Rishikesh–Karnaprayag Railway, also an under construction, is a new railway link extension from the existing Rishikesh railway station to Karnaprayag of the above system. The Sivok–Rangpo line is a proposed railway line planned to connect the towns of Sevoke in West Bengal and Rangpo in Sikkim and also link Sikkim with the Indian Railway network. It is planned to be extended to Gangtok and the India China border in the future.