Darjeeling: With the ongoing tourist rush to the Hills, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) has decided to augment the existing joy ride service between Darjeeling to Ghoom and back with 4 additional trains. The DHR will also run special evening joy ride services in the plains of Siliguri during Christmas and New Year.
With the festive season commencing, there is a rush of tourists to the Darjeeling Hills. Most of the hotels and homestays are booked to capacity till the 10th January. Even foreign tourists visit the Hills during this time of the year. DHR is one of the main tourist attractions in Darjeeling.
"At present there are 8 joyride services plying from Darjeeling to Ghoom and back. Out of the 8, four are hauled by steam loco and four by diesel. We will run 4 additional joy ride trains from December 22 till January 5. This is keeping in view the tourist rush" stated Priyanshu, Director, DHR. All the Joy Rides specials will run with a composition of 03 First Class Chair Car. There will be 30 seats each at every first class chair car coach.
The 16 km joyride starts from Darjeeling Railway station to Ghoom and back with stoppages at the famous Batasia Loop and Ghoom Railway museum. At present the joy rides cost Rs. 1600 per passenger for vista dome coach; Rs. 1500 for steam service and Rs. 1000 for diesel service.
Meanwhile in the plains, special joyrides will be run from Siliguri Junction to Sukna and back in the evenings of December 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31 and January 1 and 2. The train will depart at 5pm from Siliguri Junction at 5pm and arrive at 6:10 pm at Sukna. After a halt of 20 minutes, the train will depart from Sukna at 6:30pm and arrive at Siliguri Junction at 7:30pm. The fare for the joyride is Rs. 1200.