Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - A UNESCO World Heritage institution

The Hill Railways are a metaphor of life in India. The railways are unique in their own way and they are part and parcel of people’s life in their respective regions. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is an outstanding example of a hill railway, as it applies ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of connectivity in a mountainous terrain of great natural beauty.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is intimately linked with the development of Darjeeling as the ‘Queen of Hill Stations” and one of the major tea centres in India.  The densely wooded mountain spur on which Darjeeling now stands was formerly part of the Kingdom of Sikkim. The British East India Company leased it to develop as a rest and recovery station for its soldiers in 1835.

By 1878, Calcutta (Kolkata) had been linked by rail to Siliguri, in the foothills of the Himalaya. By this time the tea industry had gained great importance in the Darjeeling region, and the existing road link was inadequate to cope with the increased traffic. Franklin Prestage, an agent of the Eastern Bengal Railway, submitted a detailed proposal for a steam railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling. This received official approval and construction work began immediately. By 1881, it had been completed in 3 stages.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway consists of 88 kms of 2 ft narrow gauge track, passing through 11 stations between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. One of these, Ghoom, is the highest railway station in India, at an altitude of 2258 metres. The DHR Toy Train, as it is affectionately called, affords breathtaking views of Eastern Himalayas, full of waterfalls, green valleys and in the end the splendid panorama of the snow-capped Kanchenjunga range. There are four distinct sections between Siliguri and Darjeeling. The first section between Siliguri and Sukna is partly urban and partly agricultural, the 11 km densely forested section from Sukna to Rongtong, the 38 km largely deforested open hill section up to Kurseong, and finally the 30 km alpine section to Darjeeling, dominated by Himalayan pine and tea gardens.

Recognizing the importance and uniqueness of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the UNESCO awarded it the World Heritage Site tag in 1999. Kalka-Shimla Railway and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway have since been included in the World Heritage List under ‘the Mountain Railways of India’.

BBC Four has produced an award winning documentary tracing the origin of Darjeeling Hill Railway and its close relationship with the people inhabiting along. Directed by Tarun Bhartiya, the hour long film, though somewhat dated (2009), gives great insights into the lives associated with the Hill Railway.

MD/2013/12/10