Heavy rainfall triggered landslides in NH55 and NH10, trees uprooted, toy train held up

12:02 PM

•

Siliguri

Darjeeling Siliguri, July 4: Heavy rainfall since last night triggered landslides and brought down trees along NH55 and NH10, disrupting a toy train and road traffic for hours.

Narendra Mohan, the area officer of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, said a tree had been uprooted and fallen on tracks and NH55, which run parallel, at Rongtong. A Darjeeling-bound toy train was held up at Rongtong for more than two hours after the tree fall.

"The diesel train with 35 passengers left NJP around 8.30am. However, it had to stop at Rongtong because of the tree uprooted in the heavy rainfall. It took almost two hours to remove the tree from the tracks and the toy train resumed its journey towards Darjeeling at 3.30pm," said Mohan.

Rongtong is 20km from here.

The uprooted tree also disrupted traffic on NH55 between Gayabari and Tindharia at one end and Siliguri at the other end.

Traffic on NH10 was disrupted for five hours as heavy rain had ripped out a tree and caused a landslide. The tree fell on the highway at Labarbotay, 55km from here, while the landslide hit the road further 20km away.

Heavy rainfall triggered landslides in NH55 and NH10, trees uprooted, toy train held up 

"It has been raining continuously since last night and this led to landslips at several spots on NH10. The two major disruptions were at Labarbotay, where a tree had fallen on the highway, and another spot 20km further uphill. Vehicles had been stuck since noon and traffic resumed when the highway was cleared at the two spots around five hours later," said a source.

The Regional Meteorological Office in Jalpaiguri said the rainfall would continue throughout sub-Himalayan Bengal for the next few days.

"The southwest monsoon has set in and is strong over the region. This is leading to consistent rainfall in the sub-Himalayan Bengal. Heavy to very heavy rain, measuring 70mm to 200mm, has been forecast in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts in the next 48 hours," said a Met Office source.

In 24 hours till 8.30am today, it had rained around 70mm in Darjeeling. In other areas, the rainfall ranged between 20mm and 60mm, a Met Office source said.

Telegraph

READ MORE

Darjeeling toy train cuts a man into halves near ‪Sonada‬

10:52 PM

•

Sonada

Man Mowed Down by Train Near ‪Sonada‬

Reports: Tenzing Sangayla Bhutia

17 June 2016 Darjeeling Sonada: The World famous UNESCO's World Heritage Darjeeling toy train cuts an unidentified man in half and drags one half of the body all the way to Sonada while the other the half of his body was found near 8th Mile 4 km from Sonada.

People in Sonada were in for a shock when the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) also known toy train pulled in tonight. Along with the train came the dead body of a male which was stuck to the lower half of the train.

People would later find that the train had cut the man in half, with half of his body being found near 8th Mile, which is 4 kms away from Sonada town and the other half got pulled along with the train to the station.

The police have cordoned off the train and are currently trying to ascertain who the dead individual is.

Darjeeling toy train cuts a man into halves near ‪Sonada‬

The Railway authorities in collaboration with the pulled out the dead body from underneath the train.

Darjeeling toy train cuts an unidentified man in halves

Via The DC

READ MORE

Darjeeling Toy train long distance service put on hold

2:47 PM

•

Tourism

DARJEELING 13 Jun 2016 The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway toy train service along the 87km route from Darjeeling to New Jalpaiguri station has been temporarily suspended  after three of its diesel engines broke down a few days ago and are presently under repairs.

The DHR has four diesel engines, but three being non-functional, with the latest breakdown happening on June 10, the Darjeeling-New Jalpaiguri long distance service was forced to be suspended. DHR  area manager Narendra Mohan today confirmed that the Darjeeling-NJP service has been put on hold till the diesel engines are repaired.

“Due to technical faults, three of our engines have broken down over the past few months forcing us to halt the 87km service. We hope to resume service from Wednesday but on alternative days, as we can get only one of the three engines repaired. However, we will try our utmost to have all the diesel engines up and running at the earliest,” he said.

Darjeeling Toy train

The joy-rides on steam engines from Darjeeling to Ghoom and diesel services from Darjeeling to Kurseong and back are in operation though. Presently, there are about 14 steam engines  and four diesel engines for the DHR toy train.

Via EOI

READ MORE

Darjeeling toy train get glass walls for engine view

9:04 AM

•

Tourism

Darjeeling June 8: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has replaced the opaque walls at the rear and front ends of two first class coaches with glasses so that travellers can see the more than century-old steam engine pull the train.

Narendra Mohan, the area officer of DHR, said the refit compartments were being used for toy trains running between Darjeeling and Ghoom since May.

He said two more coaches were also being given glasses at either ends and they would be put to use in two weeks.

"Tourists around the world come to Darjeeling to take a ride on the Unesco World Heritage railway. In order to make their ride more enjoyable and fulfilling, we have renovated two first class coaches and added glass windows at the rear and front ends. Prior to this, the coaches had opaque walls and the passengers in each of them could not see what was happening in the other coaches. But now they can easily do so," said Mohan.

The DHR compartments with glasses at the rear and front ends - file photo

The new feature has been introduced mainly to enable travellers to see how the steam engine functions. "They will now be able to see the driver operating the engine and the fireman feeding coal into the furnace," said Mohan.

"Earlier passengers could see these sights only when the train negotiated a bend. But now, they can see it anytime without having to leave their seats and rush to the windows. These coaches will be exclusively used in steam-driven joy rides between Darjeeling and Ghoom. Apart from the view in front, the tourists will also get to see the scenery behind through the glass," he added.

The coaches were renovated at Tindharia workshop - the locomotive and carriage workshop of the toy train - and the Siliguri loco shed.

While two of the coaches have already been put into use since the beginning of May, the remaining two will be in service within next fortnight.

The DHR official said the size of side glass windows of the four coaches had been made bigger so that tourists got a full view of the sceneries.

Telegraph

READ MORE

Darjeeling toy train resumes its daily train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling

9:48 AM

•

Tourism

Siliguri, May 23: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway will resume its daily train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling next week, more than five months after it had been rescheduled to thrice a week because of lack of diesel engines.

Narendra Mohan, the area officer of the DHR, said daily services between NJP and Darjeeling halted in January when one of the four diesel engines had developed problems.

"We had to run the services on alternate days, instead of everyday, because one of the diesel engines had developed a snag and was sent for repairs. We were short of engines and we had to reduce the number of trips on the route. Since January, we have been operating the trains on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays," Mohan said.

"But the engine has been restored and is back with the DHR. We will conduct trial runs to see if it is functioning properly and will commence regular services from NJP to Darjeeling by next week," he said.

Additional coaches have been attached to toy trains on the Darjeeling-Ghoom route since May 19 to cater to tourists.

"Normally, there are two first-class coaches but now there are four. The footfall of tourists has increased in the past one week. Two coaches were not enough," Mohan said. "We are planning to keep the additional coaches till June."

The four coaches can ferry around 120 passengers and the cost is Rs 630 per person.

READ MORE

UNESCO to Survey ‪‎Darjeeling‬ Himalayan Railway Next Month

7:43 AM

•

heritage

Writes: Mrinalini Sharma

A six-member Unesco team will visit the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway for five days next month to conduct a survey of the World Heritage Site.

The visit is part of formulating# a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan - a blue print on conservation, management and sustainable development of toy train.

Officials of the DHR said the team would be here from April 9 to 13 and visit different stations of the hill railway.

"A team of Unesco experts will visit the DHR for five days from April 9 to 13. We have been informed that this is a visit before work on formulating the CCMP begins. The team will visit all stations of the hill railway, including Tindharia workshop," said Narendra Mohan, the area officer of the DHR.

"This will be a field survey of the DHR to understand the landscape on which the heritage railway is, various components of the DHR and other important details about its conservation and management. The team will have three officials from the Unesco's New Delhi office and three Unesco experts from different countries. The preparation of the CCMP will take at least two years," he added.

Darjeeling‬ Himalayan Railway

The CCMP is mandatory for all Unesco World Heritage properties.

The master plan for the DHR will be formulated by the Unesco experts in collaboration with the Indian Railways that would provide the funds.

Unesco has said the plan should cover all aspects like institutional, legal and economic and ensure that the "Outstanding Universal Value" should be protected.

Paul Whittle, the vice-chairman of UK-based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS), wrote an e-mail to The Telegraph about the visit.

"It is great news that work is about to start on this long-awaited DHR Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan, funded by Indian Railways and led by a UNESCO appointed panel of experts. This initial visit is the essential first step in a lengthy and wide-ranging study that will form the basis of a robust and lasting plan for the conservation and sensitive development of this World Heritage railway," he wrote.

"We know that UNESCO will be seeking input and recommendations from a wide body of local organizations and other bodies. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society will certainly be contributing to UNESCO's work," the e-mail read.

Established in 1881, the DHR was accorded the Unesco World Heritage status in 1999.

It is the second railway in the world to be given a heritage status after the Semmering Railway in Austria in 1998.

Telegraph

READ MORE

Darjeeling toy rtain to add extra coaches for Christmas-New Year season

8:20 AM

•

Tourism

Siliguri, Dec. 22: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway will add one extra coach to each of the three diesel-run toy trains for the joy rides to accommodate tourists who flock to the hills during the Christmas-New Year season.

The additional compartments on the Darjeeling-Ghoom-Darjeeling route would be introduced from December 25.

Narendra Mohan, the area officer of the DHR, said the decision to add the coaches was taken because there had been an increase of around 10 per cent in online reservations for the joy rides since the holiday season began this time.

"We have noticed that the online reservations for the DHR joy rides have risen to around 80 per cent in the past two-three days, which is around 10 per cent more compared to the previous years. So, we have decided to add an extra coach for all diesel-driven joy rides to accommodate more tourists," said Mohan.

A diesel-driven toy train in the Darjeeling hills. File picture

Currently, the DHR offers seven joy rides, including a steam-run Red Panda that plies between Kurseong and Darjeeling.

The six other joy rides are between Darjeeling and Ghoom.

Three trains on the route are diesel-driven and the three others run on steam.

"The reason for attaching additional coaches to the diesel-driven trains is that they (the engines) can haul up to four coaches. The steam-driven engines can pull only two compartments. We will run the extra coaches till the reservations come back to normal," Mohan said.

DHR sources said a first-class coach has 28 seats and by adding the extra coaches, 84 more passengers can be accommodated for the joy rides daily.

On December 2, the DHR had resumed the toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. The route had been shut since June 2010 because of a landslide at Paglajhora.

While one train travels from NJP to Darjeeling, another one runs from Darjeeling to NJP everyday.

"The occupancy has been fairly good in the past three weeks. In fact, in the past three days, the train that travels uphill from NJP to Darjeeling had full occupancy," Mohan said.

Source: Telegraph

READ MORE