Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) is a place of inspirational railway engineering. A tiny locomotive engine heaves its way up a vertical mountain, carrying passengers and materials, a climb of over 2,000 meters.

Opened in 1881, it applied bold, ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty. Darjeeling Toy Train is still fully operational and retains most of its original features.

The history of the line commences in 1878, when Franklin Prestage proposed a hill tramway of two feet gauge, following the alignment of the Cart Road to Darjeeling. Construction commenced a year later, and was finally completed in 1881. On completion, the railway ran from Siliguri to Darjeeling - a distance of 51 miles.

It rose from 398 feet above mean sea level at Siliguri, to its summit of 7,407 feet at Ghum. It followed the original Cart Road, crossing it time again. As the years rolled by, the company expanded its network, with branches to Kishanganj and Kalimpong Road being opened in the early part of the century.

In December 1999, the UNESCO bestowed Darjeeling Himalayan Railway with the award of the World Heritage Site. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is only the second railway in the world to be granted this auspicious status and is the first ever narrow-gauge railway to be listed.