Toy train focus to pull tourists

AVIJIT SINHA, TT, 7 December 2017, Siliguri: Senior railway officials said they were taking initiatives to promote two mountain railways in the country along with the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) to attract both domestic and international tourists.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, which also are world heritage sites recognised by the Unesco like DHR, are the services that the railways want to promote for tourism.

"Both these heritage railway services are equally enchanting for tourists and train enthusiasts. The DHR is known across the world and people keep flocking too Siliguri and Darjeeling to take a ride in the toy train. Now, we want the other two mountain railways of our country to be popular among the domestic and international travel fraternity," said Subrata Nath, the executive director (heritage) of the Railway Board, over phone from Delhi.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway, or KSR, runs along a 96km stretch between Kalka and Shimla. It was declared a heritage by the Unesco in 2008.

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, which connects the hill town of Ooty, is a 46km long service.

As part of the initiative, sources said, both these railways have formed a multi-disciplinary management unit.

"So far, divisional railway managers of the concerned divisions under the zones of northern and southern railways used to take care of these two railways, unlike DHR, where we have a director deputed with other staff. Recently, dedicated multi-disciplinary management units have been formed in both these railways," said a source.