Tourism in the Darjeeling hills received a much-needed boost as the iconic Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) resumed its full-fledged toy train service between New Jalpaiguri (NJP) and Darjeeling stations on Thursday after rides were suspended for four days following landslides.

The bookings were encouraging on the very first day.

“We reached Darjeeling a couple of days ago and had booked our return tickets to NJP by a toy train,” said Md Sheikh, a resident of Calcutta who arrived with three family members. “After the landslides, we were worried that the journey would be cancelled. But we were relieved to make it after the tracks were restored, finally.”

Train services between the plains and the hills were halted on October 5 after a major landslide struck near Dilaram, close to Kurseong, along with minor landslides between Kurseong and Tindharia. “Keeping passenger safety in mind, the service was temporarily suspended,” said a DHR official. “After restoration work was completed, regular movement resumed this morning.”

DHR director Rishabh Choudhary said that apart from the regular NJP–Darjeeling services, all 13 joy rides between Darjeeling and Ghoom resumed on Thursday. “One chartered service also operated from Kurseong to Darjeeling today (on Thursday),” he added.

According to officials, a group of four Italian tourists chartered a heritage coach hauled by a diesel locomotive for their journey from Kurseong to Darjeeling. The regular service currently operates with two coaches — one air-conditioned and one non-AC — each with a capacity of over 60 passengers, all of which ran at full occupancy on Thursday.

Tourism stakeholders have described the resumption of the toy train rides as a sign of recovery and renewed confidence among visitors.

“The hills’ economy depends heavily on tourism, and the recent landslides had dealt another blow to the industry,” said Samrat Sanyal, secretary of the Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network (HHTDN). “The resumption of the toy train services, one of Darjeeling’s biggest tourist draws, sends a strong message that normality is returning to the region.”