Return of Neral-Matheran toy train in Maharashtra cheers tourists

Sharing the joy and enthusiasm of tourists, especially children, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took to Twitter expressing his happiness over the resumption of Neral-Matheran Toy Train in Maharashtra.

The PM shared the video of the train which was posted by the Ministry of Railways.

It was on a day before Deepavali on October 23 that the operations of this narrow gauge, heritage toy train was resumed by the Central Railway.

Running between Neral and a popular hill station near Mumbai, Matheran, the train services were restarted after a gap of three years. Making this special, CR has added one vista dome coach in the six-coach train for passengers to take in and enjoy the scenic beauty enroute while travelling. Vehicles are banned in this hill station.

People in thousands from Mumbai and Pune throng this destination, especially during the weekends. The toy train is a major attraction for them.

Sharing details about this train, CR’s General Manager Anil Kumar Lahoti who had inspected the stretch last week said: “We are happy to restart the heritage train operations after a gap of three years, and it is a Diwali gift for commuters from the railways.”

While one of the coaches is a vista dome, the remaining five coaches of the newly-designed toy train are first and second-class coaches.

The running of the train was halted in 2019 when the railway track was damaged at 20 different locations due to heavy rain after which operations remained closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and till after the rainy season this year.

Elaborating on the modifications made in the route line, Anil Jain, CR’s Deputy Chief Lahoti informed: “The damaged sleepers on the railway track have been replaced by new concrete sleepers and more safety measures have been taken. Apart from that, the retaining wall and gabion walls have also been installed in several parts of the ghat section. For rainwater management, drains have been built under the track for water to flow away.

At present the train is running on the two-kilometre stretch between Aman Lodge and Matheran.