Toy train work resumes

TT, Siliguri, Oct. 8: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has started the process of restoring the toy train tracks that had been damaged during the agitation in the hills.

The divisional railway manager of Katihar division, C.P. Gupta, held a meeting yesterday with officials of the DHR and requested them to ensure the resumption of toy train services as early as possible.

The toy train - a Unesco heritage property - is one of major attractions for tourists visiting the hills. But the services have been suspended since June 12 because of the shutdown.

M.K. Narzary, the DHR director, said the condition of the tracks from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling - 87km long - was not suitable for toy train movement.

"During the strike, no maintenance work could be carried out on the tracks. Now that the strike has been withdrawn, our engineers have started work on clearing the tracks. Weeds and grasses have covered the tracks in most places," he said.

Officials said though there were attempts to resume the toy train services at the earliest, no specific date could be given. Some, however, said they were hopeful toy trains would ply again later this month.

"Our technical team has already started the inspection of tracks and is working on restoring rail connectivity. We cannot specifically commit when the services would resume but once we get a clearance report from the technical team, toy train rides will start again," the DHR director said.

According to the officials, landslips had occurred at a few places on the tracks because of the lack of maintenance during the 104-day shutdown.

"Our main objective is to restore train movement immediately. First, we will try to resume the joyride between Darjeeling and Ghoom - 12km long. Toy train services between NJP and Darjeeling via Kurseong will resume later," he added.

Nazary claimed that the DHR had suffered a loss of around Rs 3 crore because of the suspension of services and the damage to its property during the shutdown. "Two DHR stations - Ghayabari and Sonada - were torched by some miscreants during the strike in the hills. They have to be reconstructed," he said.