Drive to free toy train track of encroachers

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, 28 Aug 2019, Siliguri: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) will soon begin clearing encroachments near the tracks of the toy train to the Darjeeling hills.

According to senior railway officials, several stretches of the 88km tracks of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling have been encroached on.

Shops, huts and garages have been built illegally on either side of the tracks. At some places, markets have come up beside the tracks. Sometimes, people park their cars on the tracks, halting the toy train.

The stretch between NJP and Sukna has witnessed the maximum encroachments, the railway officials said.

Ravinder Kumar Verma, the divisional railway manager of the NFR's Katihar division who was on a two-day visit to Darjeeling, said on Tuesday: "The most congested stretch of the DHR tracks is between NJP and Sukna stations. We are preparing an action plan to clear the encroachments near the tracks. The drive will be taken up in association with the local administration and the state government. This is necessary to conserve and protect the tracks of the world heritage railway." Verma had on Monday taken a special train from NJP to Darjeeling. During the journey, he inspected the areas where encroachments have come up and also identified other problems.

"We have found out that cars are often parked on the tracks, which even affect train services. It has been decided that from now we will seize any vehicle found parked on the tracks," Verma said.

The DRM's visit, sources said, comes ahead of a proposed trip of the Railway Board chairman. He is likely to tour the region next month to check the state of affairs of the DHR and its services.

Later this year, the railways will host elaborate programmes to mark 20 years of Unesco recognising the mountain railway as a world heritage.

"To celebrate the occasion, we are drawing up elaborate programmes for December. During the winter, a good number of tourists flock to the Darjeeling hills. The celebrations will be an added attraction for them," a railway official said.

The railways have also planned to finish the restoration of the two damaged station buildings of the DHR at Sonada and Gayabari ahead of the celebrations, the sources said.