The ‘toy train’ in West Bengal’s Darjeeling started chugging again from Wednesday, more than a year after the Covid-19 pandemic brought it to a halt. The train ran again on tracks between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling and DRM S K Choudhury flagged off the journey, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said in a statement.
Formally known as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), the toy train is a part of the railway system declared by UNESCO as a ‘World Heritage Site’
The NFR’s announcement for the resumption of toy train services comes weeks before Durga Puja, a much-venerated festival in West Bengal. According to reports, in each toy train, a total of 17 seats will be for the first class and 29 seats will be available in the general class for passengers. NFR officials have said that the resumption of toy train services will benefit the tourism and hospitality sectors.
NFR’s spokesperson Guneet Kaur said that the toy train services were stopped on March 22, 2020, due to the pandemic. And while the NFR is geared up to resume the services from Wednesday, Kaur also requested passengers to follow Covid protocols while enjoying the toy train services
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“We are very happy that that the toy train has started. It was closed for 17 months. We request all passengers to maintain the Covid protocol,” said Guneet Kaur, CPRO, NF Railway.
Sandip Yadav, a tourist from Beneras, said, “It was my dream to board the toy train. We were sceptical due to the pandemic but we are lucky that today it started and we were aboard.”
According to reports, the Darjeeling toy train was built in the British era, between 1879 and 1881. It is a narrow-gauge railway that climbs from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, around 88km apart, on a zig-zag track. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, the toy train is one of the prime tourist attractions of Darjeeling.
Darjeeling’s pride and joy, the toy train, is reportedly on its way to get privatised under National Monetisation Policy (NMP) announced by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. Tour operators in North Bengal are opposing its privatisation, saying that if it’s taken over by private players, it will lose its value as a heritage site.
The jungle safari service will also resume from August 30. The passengers will get tea during the safari, the ticket cost of which is Rs 1,000.
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