Stakeholder Workshop on Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR)

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) for Community & Environment through a Stakeholders Workshop with UNESCO in Jan 2002 for Capacity building of Heritage & Tourism for Sustainable Development & Management.

[ Material Heritage ] [ Immovable Heritage ] [ Natural Heritage ] [ Intangible Heritage ] [ Tourism ]

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – Genesis

    Darjeeling is a popular hill resort in India. It is situated in the North of West Bengal. “Darjeeling” means the place of the “DORJE”, the mystic thunderbolt of Lama region. This place is flocked by Tribes from the neighboring areas of West Bengal, Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan.

     While Darjeeling was growing, Rawland Macdonald Stephenson was crusading his battle for Railway extension in India.  He promoted 'East India Railway Company' [EIR].  On August 15, 1854 the first train steamed off from Howrah to Raniganj and extended upto Silliguri in the middle of 1878.  The option of reaching Darjeeling from Silliguri was by 'PALKI' and 'Bullock-Cart' etc. Franklin Prestage, the agent of  'THE GUARANTEED EASTERN BENGAL RAILWAY' took up the agent-ship. At that time E.B.R. had no plan to take Rails to the Hills, because the hills were considered a formidable sphere where E.B.R./N.B.R. failed as corporate organisations, Prestage however, succeeded as an individual entrepreneur. His confidence was based on the belief that a line substantially reduces the cost of Bullock-Cart transport between plains & Darjeeling: Rice was Rs.98/- a ton at Siliguri and Rs.238/- Darjeeling.  A Railway could cut down the cartage rate by as much as a half and still earn a good profit.

     The genesis of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) is significant both economically and in engineering terms. The railway broke new ground in India in both domains.  It was the first railway in India built exclusively with Indian capital. The immense reduction in transport costs to and from Darjeeling guaranteed plenty of traffic and hence a reasonable return on the investment, thus facilitating its financing, which ran to Rs.2.8 million. The journey time from Calcutta to Darjeeling was reduced from 5-6 days to less than 24 hours, thus enabling Darjeeling's development as a hill station and holiday destination.

     In 1878, Prestage submitted a detailed scheme to the Government of Bengal. The Lt. Governor Sir Ashely Eden sanctioned this. Accordingly, a contract was made dated 8/4/1879 between Secretary of State & Franklin Prestage. The government land and right to use the existing Cart Road was granted free of cost. Prestage settled for a 2 ft Rail Gauge and formed "The Darjeeling Steam Tramway Co" with capital fully subscribed in India. By 1887, Rupees 28,00,000/- had been spent which was almost Rs.60,000/- per mile. Motive Power and Rolling Stock cost a mere Rs. 10,000/-. On Sept. 15, 1881 the title of Company was changed to 'Darjeeling Himalayan Railways' {DHR} Co'.

     From an engineering viewpoint, surveying the route was a daunting task, however, great ingenuity was shown in overcoming natural obstacles and maintaining the nevertheless steep gradient at a level which could be run by adhesion only, i.e. as an ordinary railway without the use of rack mechanism or cable. This was achieved in three ways: -

1.      Zig-Zagging and Criss-Crossing across the Hill Cart Road - entailing over 150 crossings en route;

2.      Running a loop where the train describes a full circle to finish at a similar spot some 20 feet higher;

3.      Reversing on a Z-shaped layout where the train runs forward, reverses backwards up the slope, then proceeds forwards again parallel to the approach line but at higher altitude.

These solutions led to low Engineering investments by maintaining the alignment of hill cart road, obviate the need for tunnels, need only small bridges very close to the side of the road and yielded an average gradient of 1 in 30, rising to 1 in 20 in places. Gillander Arbuthnot & Co. constructed this engineering masterpiece from 1879 to 1881. The progress of construction & opening the sections by DHR was as follows: -

      i.        Siliguri to Kurseong                31¾ miles                on 23/8/1880,

     ii.        Kurseong to Sonada                              10    miles               on 2/2/1881,

   iii.        Sonada to Darjeeling                                9    miles               on 4/7/1881

   iv.        Darjeeling to Bazar                      ¼ miles               in 1886.

     The DHR line rises a total of 6850 ft over its 87.48 kms length passing through tunnels, 'Loops' and 'Z' reversing stations. The gradient is steady around 1:28 and maximum gradient achieved is 1:22.5 which is almost the limit of a pure adhesion Railway. From New Jalpaiguri to Siliguri it runs along the plains at speeds upto 28 kmph. At Sukna the climb begins and speed reduces to below 15 kmph, continuing uninterruptedly to the 7407 ft summit at Ghum, then descending the final 5 miles into Darjeeling. Ghum has the distinction of being the second highest conventional summit railway station in the world (after Cuzco in the Andes which operated tourist trains in season time around once a month). However, for regular passenger operation, Ghum is the highest Railway station in the world.

     After independence in 1948, the Government of India acquisitioned DHR and amalgamated them into Assam Railways.  Presently, DHR/Assam Railways is known as N.F.R. (NORTHEAST FRONTIER RAILWAY). The narrow gauge Railway  to Darjeeling now starts from New Jalpaiguri, 3 miles from Siliguri. There are many trains from Howrah, New Delhi, Trivandrumand Mumbai and other major stations all over the country bringing tourists to Darjeeling, the Eastern Hill - Queen.

    There is a renewed interest in rehabilitation, revival and preservation of DHR in its primeval form. This is also attributable to the movement for preservation of Steam traction.. There has always been an interest in this train all these years in the Indian Railways. This has ensured that the DHR continues to operate notwithstanding losses over the years. Restorations whenever necessary have been carried out keep the system working. Without modernization and major inputs the DHR has continued to perform. It is also to the credit of Tindharia workshops to keep the locomotives surviving, some of which are over 100 years old and the youngest is about 70 years old. The construction of the Railway is one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19^th century. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Heritage Foundation (DHRHF) was set up at the initiative of Mr Tenduf in India in 1994. It led to the formation of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) in United Kingdom (UK) and a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society in Australia.

    Landslides have caused severe disruptions right from the beginning. However, the Railways have always gone ahead and done the restorations. During the monsoons of 1998, an unprecedented landslide took place disrupting the track mainly at two points. Both the track and road were washed out and fallen down the hills. As the road runs together with the rail, some of the road restoration took the track alignment. Many imagined that the track would possibly never be restored again. However, the Railway rose to the occasion and the work has been completed. A new alignment was necessary over as many as 7 short new bridges, new track, grading and curves. The line is operational all through once again. During 1999 even while the DHR was closed due to landslides; Station buildings were given a face-lift, the roof of the Ghoom station building which was blown away was replaced to restore the original form, a garden was made to adorn Ghum station, improvements in Rolling stock were made, water supply was improved and many other works were carried out.

    For the long term, the Railway Board is considering many initiatives. Planning is on in key areas affecting viability, modernization, track inputs & tourist interests. For passenger operation diesel engines have been introduced. These have reduced the journey time. For tourist operation, appropriate steam services are being considered with new coaches. A new tourist train has been started between Darjeeling & Ghoom. Necessary track and building inputs are being provided.

Back to Top