Tech tickets after 2012 print wind-up

Northeast Frontier Railway has started revamping its printing press at Kurseong and has plans to install a computerised ticketing system at the only facility of its kind that caters for the section extending from Tinsukia in Assam to Katihar in Bihar.

The computerised ticketing system for unreserved ticketing system (UTS) and passenger reservation system (PRS) will, however, take place after the ticket printing section of the press shuts down in 2012.

Currently the unit prints manually generated tickets for the entire NFR zone.

“The railway board has sanctioned Rs 4.30 crore for upgrading the unit. This amount would be used to install machinery and revamp the infrastructure at the press,” Keshav Chandra, the general manager of the NFR, told The Telegraph over phone.

The 62-year-old press has two printing sections.

While the general section prints books, forms and railway passes, the ticket section prints and supplies manually-generated tickets for the Tinsukia, Lumding, Rangiya, Alipurduar and Katihar divisions, under the NFR, and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

“The ticket printing section will wind up in 2012 because manually generated tickets are being phased out,” said Chandra.

The press that was established in 1948 is the only unit in the hill railway section that does not come under the DHR. It is controlled from the NFR headquarters in Maligaon.

Currently, computerised ticketing facility is only available at the Darjeeling railway station.

The move to close down the ticket printing unit at Kurseong had evoked strong protests after it was announced by the Indian Railways in 2008 because it would stop the production of manually generated DHR tickets that are popular as souvenirs all over the world.

“We had submitted a memorandum to the general manager of the NFR with a proposal to upgrade the press on August 5. Chandra surveyed the press and announced the railway board’s decision to revamp it,” said Rajiv Rai, the NFR Employee Union’s joint secretary and an employee at the press.

According to NFR sources, the railway has already removed some of the machinery at the general printing section.

“Around four old equipment have been scrapped and three more which have become obsolete will be removed. These machines would be replaced by offset printing machinery. The press will require three to four such equipment,” the source said.

Almost the entire sum of the sanctioned funds would be used for installing the computerised ticketing machine. “The remaining amount will be used for purchasing offset printing equipment,” the source said.

Source: The Telegraph

Fresh coal fails to fire toy train ride - Hill track journey cut short for second time in four days

Darjeeling, March 29: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway continues to be hit by disruptions. The Unesco World Heritage property ran out of steam once again today because of poor quality of coal.

On Friday, too, the DHR could not operate its services as inferior quality coal was shoved into the engines. Even though the DHR officials stocked up 11 tonnes of coal on Saturday, the fresh supply failed to propel the engine.

“The Kurseong 10DN train (which does a daily round between Darjeeling and Kurseong) could not overcome the gradient near Bokshijhora today and had to return,” said a witness.

The 44 passengers on the train who were charged Rs 240 each for the two-hour ride had to be satisfied with half the journey.

The other joy ride, which starts from Ghoom at 1.20pm, could, however, be completed as the authorities segregated the better quality coal from the stock and shoved it into the engine.

“Eleven tonnes of coal were brought on Saturday, but it was also muddy and dusty. The quality was the same as in the DHR’s stock. The fresh supply has not made any difference,” said a source.

P.P. Roy, director, DHR, admitted that the coal supplied on Saturday was of inferior quality. “Coal is supplied by the Eastern Coalfields and we always make a very specific order about the quality. However, the coal we have received does not conform to the standards set by us. There are very few lumps and the stock is mostly dusty.”

The director said a complaint had already been lodged with the Eastern Coalfield authorities about the poor quality. “We are facing a lot of problem as the DHR needs coal which has high calorific value. We usually require Grade B coal. We are hopeful that a better grade coal will arrive as early as possible,” said Roy.

He added that the DHR was trying its best to operate the services.

The DHR requires around 3.5 tonnes of coal every day to operate its steam services.

Coal is not just the problem plaguing the DHR. A few days back, the joy ride was delayed because of lack of water.

“The 10.40am train managed to leave the station around 1pm. There was no water at the railway station and officials were seen pumping water from private tankers. The Darjeeling loco shed does not even have a proper water storage facility,” said an official.

A toy train needs around 2,000 litres of water during a ride.

“Even the refilling point at West Point Water Column has no proper source to fill up the tanks,” he added.

“In December, when a chartered toy train was being run from Siliguri to Darjeeling, it was stranded for almost four hours at Rongtong station because of lack of water,” said Pradip Lama, the secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents.

Source: The Telegraph

Muddy coal stops Darjeeling Himalayan Railway on tracks in hills

Darjeeling, March 26: A Darjeeling Himalayan Railway toy train stopped midway today because coal with a higher mud content had been shoved into the engine.

In recent times, the joy rides operated by the century-old DHR have been frequently disrupted for one reason or the other, leaving visitors as well as tour operators livid at the way the services are conducted.

So much so that the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents today asked the railways to “completely shut down the services if they cannot maintain the heritage property”.

The 10D train hauled by a steam engine left Darjeeling for Kurseong at 10.15am, but it could not proceed beyond Bokshijhora in Dali, about 3km from the terminal point.

“The steam engine is propelled by coal. However, when the coal was dropped in the engine, the fire itself got doused as the amount of mud was more than the fuel,” said a source.

As Dali is at a higher elevation than the Darjeeling railway station, the train could return to the starting point. Because of the coal with inferior quality, the DHR cancelled the other two rides also.

“A steam engine can haul three bogies, but only two are attached nowadays because of adulterated coal,” said a tour operator. A standard compartment carries 24 passengers who shell out Rs 240 each for a two-hour ride.

The DHR officials at the Darjeeling station refused comment on the incident.

Sources, however, said seven tonnes of “poor quality coal” are presently lying at the railway station. “Coal is brought from the Siliguri Junction as and when the stock is used up,” he said. Last month, the steam service had come to a halt because of coal shortage. Around 3.2 tonnes of coal are needed a day

Not that just coal is halting the services.

Two days ago, a ride was delayed because of lack of water. “It was 1pm when the 10.40am train left the station. There was no water at the railway station and officials were seen pumping water from private tankers. The Darjeeling loco shed does not have even a proper water storage facility,” said the source.

Around 2,000 litres of water are required for each ride. “Even the refilling outlet at West Point Water Column near Dali has no constant source to fill up the tanks,” said an official.

Pradip Tamang, the secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents, said: “We are fed up with the DHR services. At times they don’t have enough water to run the engines, while on other occasions, they do not have coal. This time, the quality of coal was so bad that the engines cannot be fired. The government should completely shut down the services if they cannot maintain this heritage property.”

“A chartered service from Siliguri to Darjeeling was delayed by almost four hours in December because of water shortage at Rongtong station,” added Tamang.

The DHR services are affected for days, sometimes even weeks, by landslides during the monsoon. Frequent bandhs called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha also hit the rides.

R.K. Roy, additional divisional mechanical engineer (Tindharia), admitted that the coal supplied to the DHR was lacking propulsion. Asked if the stock would be replaced, he said: “I cannot say anything. We just hope that the trains can run tomorrow as we will try to mix rock-like coal with the powdered coal that has been recently supplied to run the engine.”

However, there was no sight of solid coal in Darjeeling. “All the lumps of coal that we had have already been used. That is why we faced problems today,” said a railway employee.

Source: The Telegraph

Darjeeling: Steam to pull Darjeeling Himalayan Railway again

Darjeeling, Oct. 6: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway’s joy rides will again have the familiar hoot of the steam engines from October 19.

Since September 23, the DHR has been using diesel engines for the joy rides, much to the chagrin of hill tour operators who have termed the move as a betrayal of its promise.

Subrata Nath, director, DHR, had claimed that they had never committed a steam engine for the joy ride on Darjeeling-Ghum route.

But tour operators in Darjeeling pointed out that www.dhr.in, the hill railway’s official website, said three locomotives would be pulled by the heritage B-Class steam engines.

“The official website suggests that the toy trains will be run on steam. But diesel engines are now used for the rides. Many foreign clients refused to travel on a train pulled by a diesel engine,” said Suresh Periwal, chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operators’ north Bengal and Sikkim chapter.

Even though the website could not be accessed this afternoon, Periwal claimed that he had with him the downloaded pages of the DHR’s website.

“I have a copy of the saved page. In the time-table section of the website, the DHR has clearly maintained that only steam engines would be used to haul the trains. It is based on these information that foreigners visit Darjeeling for a steam engine joy ride,” said Periwal.

The DHR in a letter to the tour operators has clarified that diesel engines are being used primarily to pre-empt any effort by coal labourers to disrupt the joy rides by calling strikes during the tourism season and secondly to accommodate more tourists on the train.

Nath had said the diesel engine could pull four bogies whereas only three rakes could be attached to the steam engine.

“Incidentally, two trips of steam hauled joy ride can carry a maximum of Rs 100 tourists whereas diesel hauled joy ride can clear 150 tourists in two trips. I am glad to say that the two diesel hauled trips are running 100 percent since 27.09.2009,” said the letter by Nath.

Today, Nath said he had never stated that a commitment on the steam engine had not been made. “What I had said was that the fares for the steam and diesel rides was the same. We will be reintroducing steam rides after October 18,” he said over the phone from Siliguri.

The Telegraph

Honour for Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society

Siliguri, Oct. 5: After several accolades for its community service programmes along the toy train tracks, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) now has an award in its kitty.

The Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRPS), a UK-based federation of over 60 community rail way partnerships and promotion groups, has honoured the Society with the Best International Achievement Award for its welfare projects along the toy train routes.

The award recognises the combined efforts of the Society, its chapter here, India Support Group and the subsidiary wings — Education Group and the Darjeeling Railway Community Support (DRCS) — in sponsoring a wide range of welfare initiatives.

“At a gala dinner ceremony held at Swallow Hilltop Hotel in Carlisle on Friday 25, September 2009, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) received the ‘Best International Achievement Award’ for its projects in communities living by the side of the entire stretch of the DHR,” Paul Whittle, the DHRS vice-chairman, wrote in an e-mail to The Telegraph.

Every year, the ACoRPS selects various organisations — both domestic and international — engaged with local railways for the Community Rail Awards under several categories.

The association, funded by the UK’s department of transport, works towards making local rail services more sustainable by providing better station facilities and improved train services.

The DHRS was formed in the UK in 1997 and has been working to promote awareness and increase support for the toy train in Darjeeling since then. It has now over 800 members in 24 countries.

The Education Group has sponsored art and drama competitions and funded small projects. It has also created and distributed study material about the DHR to 30 schools.

The DRCS, on the other hand, raises funds in the UK, with which it supports a wide variety of community-based projects that include free health check-ups, construction of parks and children’s playgrounds and generation of employment opportunities in the hills.

The Telegraph

Wedding receptions on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

A tour operator here has introduced a package for couples who want to hold their wedding receptions on the 126-year-old Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR).

“The idea struck us when a couple from Siliguri celebrated their marriage anniversary on a toy train in May last year. This ‘marriage on the wheels’ is for those couples who want to opt for something innovative so that their wedding is a memorable experience for themselves as well as the guests,” said Rajen Baid, the director of Cindrella Tours and Travels. MORE...

Twilight rides on offer to attract home crowd

A twilight safari on toy train cruising jungles and tea gardens with pakoras and tea served in a platter will no longer be a dream.

Such a ride will be possible thanks to Viramma Resort, which will be introducing trips between Siliguri Junction and Sukna in the weekends in association with KBS Tours Travels from March 14.

The trip that will start at 7pm covers a distance of 20km. MORE...

DHR Supporters go off the track to help people

Steam fanatics from the UK are doing their bit to help the communities living along the tracks of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

The London-based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society has announced a contribution of Rs 1 lakh for development projects in the hills, while the DHR Community Support Group, an offshoot of the Society, has raised about £2,500 (Rs 2 lakh).

“Our major concern at the moment is the welfare of the communities residing along the toy train tracks. We formed the Support Group in March last year to exclusively work with those communities and raise funds for the projects,” said David Barrie, the chairman of the Society, at the eighth annual conference of DHR Lovers organised by the Siliguri-based DHR-India Support Group on Sunday.

“From our own activities in the UK, we have been able to raise some money of which we are committing Rs 1 lakh now. The projects will be implemented by the DHR India Support Group,” Barrie added.

“Our mission statement is to raise money in support of health, welfare and employment within the Darjeeling railway community,” said David Mead, one of the trustees of Community Support Group. “While we have already raised £2,500, we have been promised another £2,500 in the near future.”

Their earlier trips to Darjileeing made the DHR enthusiasts think of taking up charity work along the tracks. “We were surprised to hear how difficult it was to see a doctor if you live in a village up in the hills, that the young ones can die of simple diseases like measles and the struggle some face trying to educate their children,” Mead said.

A team of 20 DHR enthusiasts from the UK took part in the annual conference here, along with the Katihar divisional railway manager of Northeast Frontier Railway, Mahtab Singh, DHR director Subrata Nath and DHR India Support Group president Rajendra Baid.

The donations have been collected in the UK through galas — like the one at Fairbourne in August last year when the Welsh station was turned into DHR’s Sukna — and talks on the toy train delivered by experts like Barrie.

“Every week sees us giving a DHR talk somewhere in the UK. The most recent exhibition was attended by over 15,000 people,” said Barrie.

At the meets, Barrie and other veteran DHR activists urge participants to contribute: £2 enables the Community Support Group to buy a school bag with pencil box and paper for a primary school student in Darjeeling, while £5 means books and writing material for one year. A recent event at Hanley Swan, Worcester, helped raise about £1,600.

DHR centered railway packages

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will introduce tourism packages centered around the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) with special focus on Kurseong and its surrounding areas.

“The packages have been designed after a survey of the region and its tourism trends,” said Lakeshwar Saikia, the regional manager of the IRCTC, a fully-owned subsidiary of the ministry of railways. “Bookings will open on Saturday.”

Saikia added: “Since Darjeeling is the most popular of the hill stations, tourism is centered around it, but our packages are designed in such a way that tourists get to stay in smaller towns like Kurseong, which, too, have a lot to offer. We have tied up with West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation for accommodation in its lodges.”

The six-day-seven-night packages, starting from and ending in Calcutta, will be available in three variants — tea, heritage and nature trails. Tours will usually start from Calcutta on Friday by the Darjeeling Mail, which leaves Sealdah station at 10pm. The return from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station will be by the same train. The tourists will be back in Calcutta the next Friday.

“In the tea trail, tourists will be taken to gardens to enable them to observe the entire process from plucking to tasting tea,” Saikia said. Tourists can also go for picnics to spots. The package will cost Rs 7,462 per head in the deluxe category and Rs 9,924 in the classic category.

The heritage trail includes a ride on the DHR from NJP to Kurseong, visits to the Tindharia workshop, Elysia Building and other places of interest. The package will cost between Rs 7,552 (deluxe) and Rs 9,534 (classic) per person.

In the nature trail, tourists will be put up at special home-stays at Pokhriyatar and Mirik. The cost will be between Rs 6,621 (deluxe) and Rs 9,204 (classic) per person.

Local sight-seeing and visits to Darjeeling are included in all three packages.

MoU on DHR issues

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Indian Railways and the London-based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) on issues concerning the heritage railway.

The agreement was signed on September 30 during a visit by senior railway officials to London.

“The MoU commits the two parties to work together for mutual benefit on issues concerning the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) and its adjacent buffer zones and covers such issues as communication, technical support, charter tours and facilitation of visits,” reads a press release issued from London by Paul Whittle, the public relations officer of DHRS.

The MoU was signed for Indian Railways by Mathew John, the secretary of the Railway Board, and by DHRS chairman David Barrie.

John was accompanied by Ashutosh Swami, general manager, Northeast Frontier Railway, Rajesh Agarwal, executive director, heritage, Harsh Kumar, executive director, finance (expenditure), Naresh Salecha, executive director, finance (commercial) from Indian Railways, and Mayank Tiwari, director, Rail Museum.

“We will benefit highly from the worldwide network of DHRS in spreading awareness about the heritage railway across the world,” Agarwal told The Telegraph.

The DHRS was formed in 1997 and has over 800 members in 24 countries.

“The signing of the MoU is a milestone,” Barrie said. “Indian Railways has been generous in acknowledging the contribution of DHRS in the revival of the heritage railway. We look forward to closer cooperation with them.”

Citing examples of how the agreement will work out, Whittle said: “On the publicity front, we have produced an attractive poster, which Indian Railways is keen to use. We have also agreed to help produce a DHR guidebook which the railways will sell.”

On the technical front, the DHRS will help Indian Railways in its initiative at oil-firing DHR locomotives, Whittle said.

In addition, the DHRS will work towards more tours for the DHR. “Our associated tour company — Darjeeling Travel — is increasing the number of tours it brings to the Darjeeling region for 2008 to as many as 10,” Whittle added.

Source: The Telegraph

DHR birth anniversary without steam

The 127th birth anniversary of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, celebrated today, had everything except steam, its biggest attraction and mark of identity.

Amid a lot of fanfare and gaiety, the general manager of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Ashutosh Swami, flagged off the Himalayan Princess from Siliguri Junction this morning.

The diesel-driven train is the latest introduction in the services of the Unesco World Heritage Site. “It will be a pleasure-cum-travel train plying daily between New Jalpaiguri and Kurseong,” said R.K. Rao, a member (mechanical) of the railway board and the chief guest at today’s programme.

The Himalayan Princess will have new coaches specially designed to give tourists the maximum possible view of the landscape, said Rajesh Agarwal, executive director (heritage), ministry of railways. The five new coaches brought here for this have large sliding windows with no iron bars obstructing the view. The seats, too, are more spacious and music is played through audio ports in each compartment.

However, going without steam on the big day was “just not done”, said toy train lovers.

“There should have been no compromise on steam on such a special day,” said Raj Basu, secretary of the DHR India Support Group. “The railways should have got a steam engine to haul the new train, like the ones on the Kurseong-Darjeeling stretch.”

Rao defended the railway’s decision. “We have few steam locomotives. We want to keep them in good shape for special occasions,” he said.

Not everyone was ready to buy the argument. “What can be more special than the 126th anniversary?” asked a steam enthusiast.

On its maiden run today, the flower-bedecked Himalayan Princess chugged up to Rongton, about 20 km from here. It started to rain soon after the train crossed Sukna and entered the forest stretch, with Indrayut Bhattacharya, a Class-V boy, enthralling those on board with his enchanting violin play.

Later in the day, Rao inaugurated a toy train museum at Elysia Building near Doomarm Bustee, reports our Kurseong correspondent. The museum will be open seven days a week and the entry fee will be Rs 20 per person.

However, the chief public relations officer of the NFR, T. Rabha, created a controversy today when he said the headquarters of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway will not be shifting to Elysia Building but will remain at its current location at Katihar.

“Only the DHR director’s office will shift there,” Rabha said.

Source: The Telegraph

360 Degree viewable DHR coming to Darjeeling!

New Delhi : India's very own version of the world famous panorama railways — Britain's Ffestiniog Railway and Switzerland's Brienz Rothom Bahn — is all set to chug out. To commemorate the 127th anniversary of Darjeeling Heritage Train's inaugural journey on August 23, 1880, India will roll out its first ever Shatabdi with a transparent roof.

The five-coach train, inspired by the Swiss panorama railways and specially designed to provide a real treat for tourists wanting to enjoy a 360 degree view of Darjeeling's pristine beauty, will initially run between New Jalpaiguri and Kurseong.

Tentatively called The Hill Princess, the train will cover the 40-km journey in three hours. Once the entire 90-km stretch of narrow gauge track is repaired, the train will run till Darjeeling. The journey will take six hours. Speaking to TOI, Rajesh Agrawal, executive director (heritage) in the railway ministry, said the new Shatabdi will have three improved features — better interiors, an in-house entertainment system and a fully transparent roof with larger side windows for a free view of the surroundings.

Agrawal said, "The design of this Shatabdi has been inspired greatly by the Swiss panorama railways. At present, tourists and daily passengers experience a rickety back-breaking ride from NJP-Kurseong. Now, they will truly enjoy this breathtaking journey while relaxing on their reclining seats and munching on snacks." The see-through roof has been made with scratch-proof polycarbonate sheet at the famous Kurduwadi rail workshop, located between Pune and Sholapur.

G Ravisudhan, works manager of Kurduwadi, told TOI, "This narrow gauge train will be the first to use the more powerful air brake system in place of the present-day vacuum brakes. The wide vision windows on the side will be 1 metre instead of the present day .7 metres."

Chief mechanical officer of North-East Frontier Railways V K Jha said, "We have already received two coaches from the workshop and are waiting for the other three. The first class will have 16 seats while the second class will accommodate 32 people."

According to Agrawal, the new Shatabdi will ply on the same 2 feet narrow gauge used by the DHR at present. It will start from NJP at an elevation of 100 metres and climb to 2,200 metres at Darjeeling.

Though the train will pass through all the 14 stations, it will only stop once at Kurseong. "We wanted a non-stop service from NJP-Darjeeling. Track timings are therefore being worked out in such a manner that when the two trains cross, DHR will wait and let the Shatabdi pass," Agrawal added. DHR was declared a world heritage site by Unesco in 1999, only the second railway to have this honour bestowed upon it at that time, the first one being Semmering Railway of Austria in 1998.

Source: The Times of India

Sukna DHR station at Fairbourne UK

Sukna station of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is set to get a third reincarnation in the UK, but this time with a twist.

The locomotives coming out of the new Sukna station will be half the size of the toy trains chugging up the hills here.

The UK-based Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) has decided to recreate Sukna at Fairbourne station of Fairbourne Railway, a miniature railway in Wales with tracks laid on a gauge of approximately 1ft.

The DHR runs on narrow gauge, which is 2ft wide. Most locomotives of the Fairbourne Railway are half-scale replicas of engines running on existing narrow gauge lines.

“Over the two days of the August Bank Holiday (August 26 and 27), DHRS will be bringing a touch of spice to the Fairbourne Railway,” Society chairman David Barrie told The Telegraph in an email.

Fairbourne has been chosen as the venue for a reason, said Barrie. “It was in 1997, when I was admiring Fairbourne Railway’s ‘Sherpa’, the half-scale replica of DHR steam locomotives, that I was inspired to start the DHRS. I am pleased we could be part of the worldwide movement to save the DHR and the event is our way of saying thanks to Fairbourne,” he said.

The celebrations are timed to take place just after the 127th anniversary of the DHR, which is on August 23. Plus, India has just celebrated 60 years of independence.

“India is hot topic at the moment,” Barrie said. “We’re an event that neatly encapsulates the colour and vibrancy of the country.”

The transformation of Fairbourne will be complete with a bazaar selling all sorts of Indian goodies, from shawls to bric-a-brac, even advice on how to get to Darjeeling! There will be Indian signs (more than 50 in Hindi and English), hundreds of prayer flags, DHRS members in Indian costumes, chai sellers, and much else.

A Curry and Film Show has been lined up on Sunday evening. “A special train will take people down to a point where there will be a curry meal and dessert accompanied by a slide show on the DHR,” Barrie said.

Earlier, DHRS recreated Sukna at Ffestiniog Railway’s Minfford station and Leighton Buzzard Railway’s Berdfordshire. So why Sukna again and again?

“It’s the only station signs we have,” joked Barrie.

Source: The Telegraph

DHR service suspended

Darjeeling : Toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Kurseong remained suspended today after a boulder blocked the tracks at Mahanadi, 7km from here.

The boulder, around 3m in diameter, fell from the hillside around nine in the morning.

The director of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Subrata Nath, said the service would resume on Sunday.

DGHC's positive notion about The DHR & Darjeeling Tourism

Darjeeling: The DGHC’s proposal to create a new tourist point by extending the toy train link to Tiger Hill has brought cheer to the tourism industry.

“This is definitely good news as we need more tourist attractions to sell Darjeeling for longer tours,” said Suresh Periwal, chapter chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operators (north Bengal and Sikkim).

More than 50 per cent of the town’s population is directly or indirectly dependent on the tourism sector. However, with Sikkim increasingly opening up new destinations, the Queen of the Hills seems to be losing out.

“Right now we can sell a weeklong package to Sikkim. Tourists can be taken to all the four districts there. In Darjeeling, on the contrary, tourists stay only for three days. If the joy ride on the toy train can be made into a whole-day affair, their stay can be extended at least by a day,” Periwal said.

According to Periwal, an estimated 45,000 foreign tourists visited Darjeeling during the last season, of whom almost 90 per cent took the train ride. “For the Japanese the ride is a must. Given that Tiger Hill is also a popular destination, a ride there will be a good addition to the tourism itinerary,” he said.

Though the DGHC has made it clear that it will seriously address all environment concerns, experts feel that the council could do better with a change in the route.

“Instead of going up to Tiger Hill, the council should press the railways to extend the rail link right up to Lebong where there are fewer trees,” said Bharat Prakash Rai, general secretary, Federation of Societies for Enviornmental Protection.

Environmentalists are at the moment waiting for the DGHC to finalise its proposal before commenting on the project. In the past, the construction of an airport at Tiger Hill had been stopped as it involved the felling of a large number of trees.

Source: The Telegraph