Matheran toy train to be back on track in June

The Neral-Matheran toy train service will resume in June

The Matheran toy train will soon be back on track. The Central Railway (CR) will begin placing protective barriers and replacing tracks on the Neral-Matheran toy train route from April 1. All nitty-gritty will be finalised by this month-end.

Toy train services were suspended in May last year after a spate of derailments. Since then, a number of safety measures have been taken up - the brakes have been replaced by air brakes and coaches have been improved.

Toy trains face trouble particularly at bends - a number of locations curve at 79° and 120° - and have slid off the track in the past at these points. The crash barriers and track replacement work will make travel much safer.

The 4-6-ft-high crash barriers will come up on a 21 km route along various stretches, including stretches of 2.2 km that have deep gorges. They are expected to be sturdy enough to withstand any derailment. "The work will be completed in two months," said Ravindra Goyal, divisional railway manager (Mumbai), CR.

Track replacement, which will cost Rs 12.87 crore, will get underway simultaneously.

Meanwhile, a total of Rs 6.75 crore has been set aside for crash barriers on the Neral-Matheran route.

The service was suspended in May last year following a number of derailments on the stretch

CR sources said the plan is to resume services by June, a rather unusual call. Toy trains are typically not operated during the four months of monsoon when the route turns tricky owing to slippery terrain. However, only the Aman Lodge-Matheran section will be functional in the monsoon; the Neral-Aman Lodge route will stay shut.

Owing to the absence of toy train services, visitors to Matheran have to fork out R500-700 for horse rides/ porters or trek 4 km upto Dasturi Naka.