Fiona Fernandez: Matheran Railway deserves its due

Even as its counterpart in Darjeeling has managed to get the heritage status, it continues to evade the Matheran toy train

It was the mid 1990s. After being wowed by frames from grainy TV adverts and Hindi film songs, we were to finally set foot inside the Matheran toy train, thanks to a school camping trip during the Diwali break. Dressed in starched uniforms, a bunch of excited kids had assembled at Neral railway station, one early October morning. As frisky monkeys and overzealous mynas greeted us with their antics, yours truly watched awestruck, as the heritage engine chugged towards the toy train in the station enclosure. It was unlike any engine we had seen before. The pale yellow and Prussian blue colour scheme of the tiny little train impressed us with its picture postcard-like appearance.

The journey was a memorable one; peppered with rounds of Antakshari, vale-watching, peanut-munching, and an air of free spiritedness that we had never experienced in any other railway journey until then. As the years passed, several trips via this charming toy train were taken - with each trip, our amazement of this railway line increased - from its engineering feat to its unique little place in the hearts of most Bombaywallahs.

Wither heritage status?
In the past few months, the train has been back in the news, with talk of its services likely to resume after two derailments last year. We are yet to get a fix on the final dates of the commencement. Needless to say, this closure has badly hit the economy of the hill station, especially the tourism industry that heavily relies on tourists who pour in from Mumbai and Pune. But the 110-year-old railway needs more than a return; it needs a revival. Back in 2006, the Matheran Railway was in the news for all the right reasons. UNESCO officials had confirmed that it had made it to the tentative list, inching towards obtaining heritage status. Later, in 2009 and 2012, similar buzz surfaced, but faded out.

A few days ago, its counterpart in the eastern Himalayas - the Darjeeling toy train (on the UNESCO WHS list) - got a shot in the arm after an MOU was signed with a spare parts giant to ensure that Heritage status-compliant parts will be supplied to keep it is up and chugging for a long time into the future. It's such news that gives us hope, and yet, it also leaves us with a bitter taste, and many questions around our jewel in the Sahyadris.

Why aren't we seeing a thrust to give this heritage railway its place in the sun? Why isn't more being done to enhance its position as a tourist attraction? If you've travelled on any narrow-gauge heritage railway overseas, you would have noticed the extent to which tourists are wooed en route. From well-maintained halting stations along the way, with mini museums and souvenir shops to well-documented timelines and memorabilia at the start and end, tourists are bound to take back tons of memories of an all-round experience. In comparison, the Matheran Railway, we realised, was way ahead as far as its history and engineering marvels go, and yet, it hasn't made it to the coveted UNESCO WHS list, among other concerns.

Too many questions, too few answers: nostalgia and charm alone can't keep a railway line alive.

mid-day's Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city's sights, sounds, smells and stones... wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com