Neral-Matheran Toy Train to get 6 modernised coaches, new locomotives

Central Railway’s famous Neral-Matheran Toy Train is set for an upgrade that entails new purpose built locomotives and modernised coaches.

The Toy Train, which is run by CR, will soon get new locomotives that are better suited for the hilly route along with being more comfortable and safer for the hilly tracks.

Besides, CR will also introduce six additional mordernised coaches in different and attractive colour combinations for the Toy Train, which will increase its passenger carrying capacity.

“The Neral-Matheran Toy Train has been awarded the heritage status. Central Railway has decided to resume it’s operations again after the monsoons. This time there will be six coaches in the Toy Train including with one AC. Despite being a hill station, at times it gets hot here. Moreover, there were demands for AC coaches. Our GM DK Sharma and Minister Piyushji (Goel) have shown keen interest in the Toy Train,” K.P. Somkumar, Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer, CR told ANI.

“We will also be having a different colour code on the train which will give a feel of the hilly jungle area. Apart from just giving boost to tourism, we have our social responsibility to make transportation convenient for the locals. We will increase the number of coaches as the demand increases in future,” he added.

The Matheran Hill Railway is narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, running on tracks that are 2 feet wide.

The line covers a distance of 21 km, cutting a swathe through dense forest in the Western Ghats from Neral to Matheran, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Mumbaikars during summers. It takes 280 turns during its journey.

It was built in 1907 by Adamjee Peerbhoy and has completed more than 110 years in service of this unique hill station.