Mumbaiites can rejoice as century-old Matheran toy train back on track

The Central Railway (CR) has decided to resume services of the toy train on the entire 21 km long route between Neral and Matheran.

After a gap of almost eight months, the Neral-Matheran toy train is all set to run again. In the inaugural run tomorrow, the train will leave Neral at 10.30 am on and arrive in Matheran at 2pm.

The train was suspended following two-back-to back derailments on May 1 and May 8, last year. (HT File)

The Central Railway (CR) has decided to resume services of the toy train on the entire 21 km long route between Neral and Matheran after it conducted safety trials on the entire section of the narrow gauge line, last month.

The train was suspended following two-back-to back derailments on May 1 and May 8, last year. Thereafter, CR undertook several safety works for making the journey of the heritage train safer for tourists and locals.

It also includes features like dual braking system provided in Loco as well as in coaches, Microprocessor based Engine Control System, Vigilant Control Device to monitor alertness of Loco Pilot and Speed Control unit to avoid over speeding of locos.

The CR has already undertaken safety works worth more than Rs6 Cores for making the hilly route between Neral-Aman Lodge safe for the operation of the mini train.

The CR informed that they will run only a single pair of services every day after re-introduction of the toy train services on Republic day and there would be five pairs of shuttle services between Aman Lodge and Matheran from January 27.