A ride on the century-old Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR)’s toy train with a visit to a factory that makes the world-famous Darjeeling Tea or a hike through the steep mountains during a short break of the train journey or a guided trip to the old toy train workshop at Tindharia.

These are some of the additional options that the DHR authorities are exploring to draw more passengers to the heritage mountain railway that started its journey in 1881. The idea is to offer some additional facilities or attractions to passengers while they are making a trip on the toy train.

Rishav Choudhary, the director of the DHR, said they would soon introduce some new “integrated” services in collaboration with people associated with the tea and tourism industries, the state forest department and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). New locomotives and coaches will also be introduced, he added.

“We are working on plans to introduce integrated new services in association with the stakeholders from the tourism industry, tea industry, forest, and the GTA. Yesterday, we held a meeting with representatives of these sectors at our headquarters, where several proposals were discussed,” said Choudhary.

Elysia Building in Kurseong, which is 45km from here, is the headquarters of the DHR, the Unesco-recognised world heritage site.

According to the DHR director, it was initially planned to introduce some of the additional attractions between Kurseong and Sukna. Located around 10km from Siliguri, Sukna is the first station from which the toy train starts to ascend.

Apart from introducing new attractions, there were proposals to launch new short-distance services and chartered trips.

"The entire route of the DHR is attractive because of the scenic location and the journey through tea gardens. We want to explore these areas by involving local stakeholders to make the toy train ride more enjoyable. We also have plans to introduce new locomotives and coaches so that fresh services can be launched,” the director added.

Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the Himalayan Hospitality & Tourism Development Network (an apex body of tourism stakeholders), who was present at the meeting, said the DHR authorities should focus on community involvement and promotion of new attractions to get more passengers on board.

“Darjeeling itself has global recognition. But Kurseong and its surrounding areas require promotion, and the plan of integrated DHR service can help it. It will also help include local stakeholders, which will eventually contribute to the conservation of the DHR,” said Sanyal.

Sikkim roads

The Mangan district administration in Sikkim restored road connectivity in most parts on Thursday. On Tuesday night, traffic on some roads had stopped because of multiple landslides triggered by intense rain.

Sources said tourist vehicles heading towards Chungthang via Sangkalang or Phidang Bailey bridge from Mangan — Chungthang is the junction from where roads head for Lachen and Lachung — resumed on Thursday. However, such vehicles were allowed to move only during a stipulated time till the afternoon.

One of the roads connecting Mangan with Chungthang via Toong Naga is still closed.