WB: Northeast Frontier Railways to operate evening service of ‘Joyride’ during annual Ghum Festival

Darjeeling (West Bengal) [India], November 10 (ANI): The Northeast Frontier Railway zone of Indian Railways has decided to operate the evening service of one ‘special joyride’ under the toy train service of Darjeeling Himalayan Railways for the upcoming annual Ghum Festival.
As per the statement by the Northeast Frontier Railways, the Joyride train would run between the Darjeeling and Ghum Railway stations in both the up and down directions.
The service is to run on the weekends from the 12th of November up to the 4th of December. The train would run for 8 trips.
The toy train service operates between New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. The diesel railway ticket for the toy train service costs Rs 1,000 per person, while a steam engine ticket costs Rs 1,500 per person.
Notably, the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of Indian Railways had in the past run such special trains during significant festivals. The most recent one was last month during the Chhath Festival. The NEFR had run three pairs of special trains between Dibrugarh-Gorakhpur-Dibrugarh and New Jalpaiguri-Gorakhpur-New Jalpaiguri and Amritsar-Katihar during the Chhath Utsav in October 2022.
To strengthen the rail network in the northeastern region of the country, the Northeast Frontier zone of the Indian Railways has even planned to lay railway tracks right upto the China border in Arunachal Pradesh, all state capitals, besides connecting neighbouring Bhutan.
The direct DHR Toy train service was suspended for one and half years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Notably, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (ANI)