THE TWO-FOOT WONDER

In its citation of the DHR’s World Heritage Status, UNESCO says the line “was the first, and is still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway.” Its design, says UNESCO, “applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty.” That pretty much sums up why the DHR is so special. It was listed in 1999, more than a century after the line opened in 1881. At that point, the favoured Hill Station of Darjeeling was connected to India’s railway network, rather than having to rely for communication on the Hill Cart Road that still teeters alongside the railway today. Darjeeling station is 6,812ft above sea level - but it’s not the highest point on the line. That is four miles away at Ghum (7,407ft), over 50 miles from New Jalpaiguri which lies down on the plains at only 373ft. ‘NJP’ is not part of the original railway - the three-mile extension from the previous terminus at Siliguri Town only opened in the 1960s. Monsoon rains have regularly washed away parts of the DHR - repairs after the 2016 rains were completed in November (SR462). Says Darjeeling Tours’ Peter Jordan: “We have great respect for Indian Railways in putting the resources in to keep the line going… they’ve done it proud. “But given the damage monsoons can do, we always talk about it being ‘this year’s railway.’” Alterations to the DHR over the years have even included changes to the number of spiral loops - Loop No. 3 at Chunbati is now actually the first to be reached on the climb, after Nos. 1 and 2 were taken out (in 1942 and 1991)! The railway is supported by a UK-based group, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society. See www.dhrs.org For more on the UNESCO listing, see SR252. UNESCO also has a short atmospheric video of the line. See https://goo.gl/2ZYPCc