Steam loco joyride shuts down till March 20 in Darjeeling

Darjeeling: The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a long shadow on the world heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR), as the North East Frontier Railway has cancelled the steam locomotive joyride services till March 20.

A notice by the General Manager (Operations), NEFR, on Thursday declared the cancellation of 52592, 52593 and 52595 (Darjeeling-Ghoom-Darjeeling joyride steam services) up to March 20.

Incidentally, the steam joyride services are a hot favourite among tourists, especially the foreign visitors in Darjeeling. There are six such services covering 16 km between Darjeeling and Ghoom.

Of the 6 joyride services, 3 are steam and 3 diesel. The fare for the diesel service is Rs 1,000 per person. For the steam locomotive there are two services, one with regular coaches and the other with Vista Dome coaches. For the regular coaches of the steam service the fare is Rs 1,500 per person and for the Vista Dome it is Rs 1,600. The three diesel services will continue to run in absence of the steam services. Chief Public Relations Officer S Chanda, citing reasons for the cancellation of steam services, stated: "The number of tourists is less owing to the Coronavirus scare. Along with this we are facing a shortage of crew since Holi. We plan to carry out maintenance work of the steam locos during this period."

Each engine (diesel or steam) hauls two coaches for the joyride services. The number of seats in each coach varies from 28 to 30. Owing to the coronavirus scare the number of foreign tourists has dipped considerably. The number is expected to go down further with the Centre declaring that all existing visas to India (with some exceptions) stand cancelled till April 15 in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1879 work first started on the DHR, then called the Darjeeling Steam Tramways. DHR was inscribed as a world heritage site on December 2, 1999.