The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has decided to resume the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) toy train service in the hills ahead of Durga Puja if Covid-19 cases continue to remain under control in Bengal.

“If there is no steep surge in Covid-19 cases in the state, we will resume the toy train service before Durga Puja,” said S. Chanda, the chief public relation officer of the NFR, on Saturday.

A DHR source said only the joy ride service will resume at first. “We will keep a tab on the (Covid-19) situation and if it is favourable, regular services will resume in due course,” said an official.

The 80km-long journey between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling station is one of the major attractions for tourists.

The toy train had been largely off tracks since March last year as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country. In December 2020, the NFR had resumed the joy rides but only for a couple of months as a fresh lockdown was imposed in March this year. In recent days, the number of daily Covid cases in Darjeeling has been between 50 and 80. It is a must for tourists to be fully vaccinated or carry their negative RTPCR or rapid antigen test report.