Discovering through UNESCO World Heritage Site Darjeeling Himalayan Railway leaves one in awe of India

Riding on the toy train is in itself a wonderful experience and attracts tourists. In addition to this, tourists can enjoy the heritage garden and photo gallery museum, operating at Ghum.

One can find numerous structures of marvels in India, that are sure to leave one in awe of the country. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is one such marvel that leaves its travellers with once in a lifetime experience. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) is an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on social and economic development of a multi-cultural region. Its purpose was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The world heritage committee of UNESCO at its 23th session held at Marrakesh, Morocco in 1999 decided to inscribe Darjeeling Himalaya Railway site on the world Heritage list. Two more railway lines were later added, and the site became known as one of the mountain railways of India.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was built between 1879 and 1881, and is about 88 km (55 mi) long. It climbs from about 100 m (328 ft) above sea level at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 m (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling, using six zig zags and five loops to gain altitude.

Six diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled service, with daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum– India’s highest railway station – and the steam-hauled Red Panda service from Darjeeling to Kurseong.

History

The Railway was built in 1879 to reduce the haulage charges in the Darjeeling Hills due to commercial viability of Tea Export. It was initially known as Darjeeling Steam Tramway Co. However, was later renamed as Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Co. on September 15, 1881. It was run by Gillanders Artbuthnot & Co. based in Calcutta till October 20, 1948.

Tourists Attraction

Riding on the toy train is in itself a wonderful experience and attracts tourists. In addition to this, tourists can enjoy the heritage garden and photo gallery museum, operating at Ghum. The cherry on the cake is that passengers of joy ride gets free entry to Ghum museum. Further, there are two other museums at Kurseong and Sukna.