Now Pay More for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), better known as the Darjeeling Toy Train, has scrapped the second class coaches in the daily service running between New Jalpaiguri (NJP) and Darjeeling. Now only trains with first class coaches will run on this route. As a result the fares have also gone up. Passengers will now have to pay ₹1,285 per head for the one-way journey. DHR has also revised the fares for the 11 services it runs from Darjeeling. Of these, most of the joy rides are offered in trains pulled by a steam engine and some others in trains pulled by diesel locomotives. The other two services include one train to Kurseong and another to NJP. In 1999, DHR was recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site, the second railway in the world to be thus awarded. Now it is clubbed under the Mountain Railways of India inscription of Unesco World Heritage sites along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and Kalka Shimla Railway. Here’s an old documentary on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway by the BBC: