Siliguri: For the first time, air conditioned coaches would be introduced for regular service of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), the Unesco World Heritage Toy Train from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling.

This is the sole narrow gauge route in the country to have AC coaches for regular service. So far, AC coaches were only available for chartered services of the DHR.

Officials of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said after a few test rides, they had taken the final decision to run the toy train service with the new coaches.

"The train will have two first-class coaches and one AC coach and will start from New Jalpaiguri at 8.30am and reach Darjeeling at 3.35pm. Similarly, a train will start from Darjeeling at 8.15am and reach NJP at 3.10pm every day. The passenger fare for the AC coach will be Rs 1,555 per head while fare for the first class is Rs 1,295," said PJ Sharma, the chief public relation officer of NFR.

Tickets will be available on the IRCTC website and at railway ticket counters, he added.

According to NFR sources, they have upgraded two first class coaches of DHR and converted those into air-conditioned coaches. The railway has spent Rs 43 lakhs for this conversion of coaches.

Each AC coach can accommodate 15 passengers. The interior of the coaches have been decorated with teak wood and while thick laminated glasses have been put on the windows, so that a person can enjoy the scenic beauty of the hills while sitting inside.

"Light music will be played in the coaches during the journey. The supply of power in each coach will be done through a silent power unit placed in the ceiling. Exterior of each AC coach has been painted in fluorescent colour," said the source.

As of now, DHR is running nine joy ride services between Darjeeling and Ghoom. Six of these are operated by steam locos and the rest by diesel engines.