No petering out of people’s enthusiasm for the toy train

The derailment of the toy train coaches of the Kalka-Shimla heritage railway on September 13 notwithstanding, the enthusiasm of people for travelling in the toy train has not reduced at all.

The derailment of the toy train coaches of the Kalka-Shimla heritage railway on September 12 notwithstanding, the enthusiasm of people for travelling in the toy train has not reduced at all.

Two Britons were killed and 13 others were injured when a chartered train carrying tourists to the hill town of Shimla derailed. Sant Arora/HT

This was disclosed here by the northern railway zone general manager AK Puthia, who conducted an inspection of the Kalka-Shimla heritage railway section on Monday.

During his day-long inspection, Puthia inspected curve number 14 between Kalka and Taksal, tunnel number 13 and its side drain and catch water drain, curve number 343, and the point and crossing at Barog railway station.

Puthia also inspected level crossing number 5A near Solan railway station, bridge number 541 and cutting and gang number 16.

He issued necessary directions to the division officers for value-added passenger services on the section.

Puthia said, “The journey on this section is safe as revealed during the inspection and our information shows the tourists enthusiasm has not petered out at all. We are receiving good response on this section as 48 trips have been booked and no cancellations have been registered so far after the derailment of the train. Everything is fine and we want to maintain the confidence of the tourists.”

The inspection was intended to assure passengers and also the staff members about the safety of the section after the derailment incident, said Puthia.

During the inspection, it was found that there was garbage on the tracks at one or two places which is unsafe as the level suddenly rises and that is the issue we have to take up with the residents living close to the railway track and also with the state government, he added.

“We have been issuing advertisements in the media for awareness of passengers and also plan to launch a drive to issue notices and impose penalty under the Indian Railway Act,” said Puthia.

“We are very enthusiastic about the potential in this section and to further enhance the pleasure of tourists, we intend to introduce two or three special coaches especially designed by us and these can be booked as exclusive coaches for a party of about 6 to 8 people,” he said.