08 December,2023 01:38 PM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
File photo
The narrow gauge Matheran Hill Railway continues to remain a hit. With an average of 40,000 passengers using the train every month, it has been able to ferry about 3.34 lakh passengers in the last six months.
"Matheran is the nearest and the most popular tourist destination for the citizens of Mumbai. Central Railway with its shuttle services for passengers between Neral/Aman Lodge and Matheran has been instrumental in popularising this place as a major tourist destination. In addition to providing a comfortable journey to tourists, these services help in cheap and quick transportation of materials. This has resulted in fetching the total revenue of Rs. 2.36 crore during the period from April to November 2023," a CR spokesperson said.
Stated over a century ago in 1907, the latest figures indicate the priority role of railways in providing safe and comfortable travel to its passengers coming to this tourist destination even now.
Central Railway has put in herculean efforts to restore the Neral-Matheran track which was washed out due to heavy downpours in 2019. The entire 21km stretch of narrow-gauge line was finally ready and services on the line were resumed last year on 22 October 2022. Before that, only shuttle services between a small 2-km stretch of Aman Lodge and Matheran were in service carrying passengers and parcels.
The Neral-Matheran line was built over a century ago in 1907 as a family enterprise of the Peerbhoys and is now on the UNESCO tentative list for Mountain Railways of India.
