A World Heritage railway
Since 1881, trains have climbed from the plains to Darjeeling on two-foot track. Here is how the line was built to climb, why UNESCO lists it, and what still runs on it.
Photo: Soumyadip Maity / Pexels
UNESCO, 1999
UNESCO inscribed the line in 1999 and later extended the listing, in 2005 and 2008, to two more hill lines as the Mountain Railways of India. It calls Darjeeling's the first, and still the most outstanding, example.
Photo: Boudhayan Bardhan / Unsplash
The track
The line runs 88.48 km from New Jalpaiguri on the plains to Darjeeling, on track 2 feet (0.610 m) wide. It opened to Darjeeling in July 1881.
Photo: Unsplash
How it climbs
The line gains height with six zigzag reverses, where the train runs forward and then backs up the next leg, and three loops, holding a ruling gradient of 1 in 31.
Photo: Avijeet Ghosh / Pexels
The top
The line peaks at Ghum, 2,258 m (7,410 ft), the highest station in India, then drops into Darjeeling through the Batasia Loop of 1919, where the track spirals over itself.
Photo: Boudhayan Bardhan / Unsplash
The engines
The railway's 34 coal-fired B-class saddle tanks were built between 1889 and 1925. Each runs with a crew of five, including a coal breaker and two sandmen who throw sand on the rails when the wheels slip.
Photo: kabita Darlami
Road and rail
Hill Cart Road runs beside the rails almost all the way up, the two swapping sides as they climb. In Kurseong the track runs straight down the shopping street, a step from the shopfronts.
Photo: Akash Dey / Unsplash
Riding it now
Scheduled trains are mostly diesel and the full run takes about 7.5 hours; steam pulls the joy rides and private charters near Darjeeling. Tell us how much railway your group wants, and we will choose the piece.
Photo: Abhinav Das / Unsplash