DHR CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF UNESCO TAGToy train heritage milestone

AVIJIT SINHA, TT, 6 December 2019, Siliguri: Darjeeling got into celebration mode on Thursday to commemorate the 20th anniversary the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) bagging Unesco's World Heritage status.

The mountain railway that started its journey in 1881 was declared a World Heritage site by Unesco in 1999.

Senior railway and GTA officials gathered in the hills to attend a series of events on Thursday. A function was hosted at Chowrasta.

Rajesh Agarwal, member (rolling stock) of the Railway A steam loco-hauled toy train is flagged off in Darjeeling on Thursday to mark two decades of the Unesco tag Board, reminisced about the build-up to securing the Unesco tag in 1999.

Agarwal, who was the director of the rail museum then and was instrumental in obtaining the status, said: "Back in 1998, there were problems in the tracks, the steam locos were non-functional and services had stopped. It was a great day for us when we received the certificate from Unesco and the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) authorities had carried out all works within six months"As of now, we run 13 steam and six diesel locos. Also, around 70 coaches are used to ferry passengers in the DHR. We have introduced AC coaches and vistadome coaches and both have become popular," said Sanjive Roy, the general manager of NFR.

At Chowrasta, an exhibition on DHR by local artists was opened, followed by release of a coffee table book on the hill railway.