Siliguri- Gayabari joy ride resumes
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OUR CORRESPONDENT Siliguri, Feb. 17: Thirty foreign tourists today took a toy train ride from Siliguri Junction to Gayabari for the first time in two- and- a- half years after the route that was shut since September 2011 was reopened on February 15.
The stretch was closed after a landslide at Tindharia destroyed the rail tracks in September...
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The line was reopened by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Union minister of state for railways, through a remote control from Berhampore in south Bengal.
Today, 30 tourists from UK, Sweden and Australia took the joy ride on the 34km stretch.
Among them was Ake Asph, a retired locomotive engineer from Sweden who had travelled from Siliguri Junction to Darjeeling on a toy train back in 1978. " In 1978, I had journeyed on the toy train from here to Darjeeling and am here again to take the ride with my wife Ealona. I had heard about the interruption that had occurred on the route but that has been restored...," the 65- yearold told The Telegraph . The stretch from Siliguri to Darjeeling is 78km long. From Siliguri the DHR tracks pass through Sukna, Rongtong, Tindharia, Gayabari, Paglajhora, Mahanadi, Kurseong, Tong, Sonada, and Ghoom before reaching Darjeeling. But for several years, the route was divided into two parts: Siliguri to Kurseong and Kurseong to Darjeeling.
" For me, toy train is the most interesting train in the world because it is so small.
We have a narrow gauge track in Sweden ... but the toy train route is interesting because of technical features like reverses and loops to make the uphill ascent easier...," Asph said.
In June 2010, a landslide at Paglajhora, 35km from here, had damaged part of the tracks and the service was shortened to Siliguri and Gayabari on one side. Another slide at Tindharia in September 2011 further shortened the route to Siliguri and Rongtong. The Kurseong- Darjeeling, however, was operational.
The track at Paglajhora is yet to be restored because NH55 that runs along it has not been repaired yet.
Tourists from abroad like to take chartered rides on the heritage railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling, a 78km stretch.
Yesterday, the 30 tourists took the dining charter from Siliguri Junction to Rongtong.
"... What we found fascinating about the toy train ride is that there are shops and houses just beside the tracks... Today, as we are travelling in the daylight, we expect to see splendid sceneries," said Bill Glen, 67, from UK who was travelling with his wife Rae.
Australian tourists Terry Broadman and Jim Gellet were looking forward to the ride.
" I have been employed with Australian railways for 38 years. The prospect of riding the toy train was attractive because it is a much smaller train than what I am used to riding...," Broadman, 79, said.
For Helen Rentell and her husband Phillip, a toy train ride was always in their to- do list.
" There are a lot of DHR enthusiasts back in the UK who are friends ... We have heard a lot about the scenic beauty that can be seen while travelling along the tracks. My husband and some from the group will be following the train in a cab ... and taking photographs.
We will share them with our friends ...," Helena said.
A DHR source said: " Another group from UK is expected to take a ride on the route in February- end."
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