Privatised future for Darjeeling?

The four famed narrow-gauge Hill Railways are included in a wideranging ‘National Monetisation’ Plan unveiled by the Government in INDIA.

The plan envisages involving the private sector and for Indian Railways encompasses 400 stations (many in prime sites), 90 private passenger trains, 265 goods sheds, the Konkan Railway, the dedicated freight corridor and the four Indian Hill Railways – the Darjeeling Himalayan, the KalkaShimla, the Nilgiri Mountain and the Matheran Light Railway.

The plan is intended to be executed in phases and due to be completed in the Financial Year 2025.

Three of the four hill railways are now basically tourist lines, only the KalkaShimla still enjoying some local custom, so it would seem logical to remove them from Indian Railways ownership, much as British Rail allowed the Vale of Rheidol to be transferred to a new operator in the 1980s.

“Indian Railways has enough problems maintaining a country-wide efficient transport system without needing to invest its hard-pressed management’s time in these lines,” Peter ‘Fuzz’ Jordan of the UKbased DHRS told NGW.

But he added “The problem with these hill railways, especially the Darjeeling Himalayan, is that the terrain through which they run is notoriously unstable, with landslips and washouts commonplace during the summer monsoon season.

“Occasionally, these are really serious: the 14th mile slip on the DHR took out about a kilometre of hillside ledge: there was no through service for five years whilst this was repaired. No sane commercial organisation would even think of taking over responsibility for having to maintain the trackbed for this very reason.”

The DHRS believes, however, that while the precise proposals are awaited, there would be both opportunities and challenges for potential private operators.

“The DHR has a very powerful ‘brand image’ and there is undoubted potential for increasing the volume and quality of the services on offer,” Fuzz added.

The large DHR work force will seek reassurances about any future changes to their terms and conditions of service while any revised organisational structure would need to be agreed with UNESCO so that the DHR’s invaluable World Heritage Site listing is maintained.”

The DHRS hopes to work with Indian Railways to bring its long and deep involvement with the DHR to bear as the specific proposals are developed.