Central Railway restores Neral-Matheran train services

The iconic toy train between Neral and Matheran—located about 100 km east of Mumbai—will run again from Saturday, October 22, as the Central Railway restored the Neral-Matheran narrow gauge line.

The services were suspended in 2019, after heavy rains destroyed about 21 km of railway tracks between Neral and Matheran.

Located in Raigad district, and nestled in the Sahyadri range of Western Ghats, Matheran is an eco-sensitive region, and Asia’s only automobile-free hill station.

The Central Railway had, however, kept running train services between Matheran and Aman Lodge, which are about 2 km apart.

“The passenger services on the Neral-Matheran section have been restored and the services will start from Saturday,” a Central Railway official said.

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Two of the trains running on the line will have six coaches, including a Vistadome coach, others will have five coaches, with first- and second-class bogies.

According to Central Railway, two down-way services and two up-way services will run every day between Neral and Matheran. Besides that, 12 Up-and-Down services between Matheran and Aman Lodge would also be undertaken.

Matheran, which means “forest on the forehead”, was discovered in May 1850 by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the then district collector of Thane. Lord Elphinstone, the then Governor of Bombay laid the foundations for the development of the region as a future hill station. The Britishers developed Matheran as a popular resort, where officers could retire during peak summer heat in the region.

The Matheran Hill Railway, a popular toy train, was built in 1907 by Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy.

Nowadays, Matheran is mostly visited by tourists who are enthusiastic about walking, trekking, mountaineering and rock climbing, valley crossing, night trails, bird watching and other nature-related activities.