After 137 years, Darjeeling's Iconic Himalayan Railway Gets Its First Evening Toy Train

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway introduced its first ever evening daily toy train after 137 years on Monday, 17 December.

The narrow-gauge train will not cover a very long distance. It will cover 18km between Siliguri Junction and Rongtong at 427.9 metres.

PTI

¡°The steam evening safari leaves Siliguri Junction at 3 p.m. to reach Rongtong at 4:20 p.m. with a 10-minute stoppage at Sukna station in between. The break is for tourists to visit the DHR museum at Sukna station. The train returns from Rongtong after a 25-minute halt for refreshment and engine reversal,¡± Pranav Jyoti Sharma, spokesperson of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), told The Hindu.

The toy train has a first-class coach and a dining car with an onboard catering service. The total seating capacity is 29.

PTI

¡°There will be one dining car and one first class coach. The seating capacity of the dining car is 12 and that of the first class is 17. The up and down fare for the journey by first class is Rs 1000 and in the dining car the fare is Rs 1200. The train will have snacks, tea and other ready to serve items onboard on payment basis. Manual booking of tickets for round trips can be made at the originating station," told IANS Pranav Jyoti Sharma, Chief Public Relation Officer, NFR

According to The Hindu, DHR, tagged a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in December 1999, is under operational control of NFR.

Most films featuring DHR in song sequences or poignant moments are shot along the Sukna-Rongtong stretch and Tindharia further up. Tindharia is where the DHR workshop is located.