The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) introduced a regular Jungle Tea Toy-Train Safari from Siliguri junction to Rongtong station on Monday evening.
This is the second attempt made by the railway authority in Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) to attract tourists as well as to boost the tourism industry.
The direct DHR Toy train service was suspended for one and half years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The toy train runs on a regular basis from Siliguri Junction to Rongtong hill station with a heritage steam engine and vista dome dining car facilities. Tourists can enjoy the breathtaking views of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and the hills from the train.
The railway authority will also open a DHR heritage photo gallery at Sukna station during the journey and offer a complimentary cup of Darjeeling tea at Rongtong station. It is a three-hour journey and after reaching Rongtong station they will come back to Siliguri junction again.
Sanjay Chilwarwar, ADRM, Katihar division of Northeast frontier railway said, "We have started a regular basis up-down jungle tea toy-train safari from today with the heritage steam engine and Vistadome dining car facilities. Tourism is the only industry in this region. So we decided to run maximum toy trains in this route to attract the tourists and to gear up the tourism industry in this region. He said that they are getting a good response, people are asking questions and in the future, it will be a part of major attraction.
Samrat Sanyal, secretary of, Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network said, "It was very interesting and exciting."
As a part of the tourism industry, we come to the NFR initiative and believe tourists will enjoy the service and local people also get a chance to travel on weekend tours.
( With inputs from ANI )
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