Surviving Indian Narrow Gauge Railways

Almost unnoticed, the Indian narrow gauge scene is dying. Apart from the three well known mountain railways, almost all the rest are gradually being converted to broad gauge or, in some cases, simply closed. The following survey has been carried out by Wilson Lythgoe and reviews the apparent situation in April 2012. Necessarily, the information presented will soon be out of date and we would welcome updates which will be posted here as they become available.

This survey is part of a series of pages on non-steam Narrow Gauge Railways round the World. It was last updated on 11th May 2016 and further information on the status of the lines below would be welcome. John Browning visited some of these lines in February 2016 and you can read his report elsewhere on this website.

This is my second attempt to discover what ng routes and services are still operating in India today. As a starting point I again used the list by Vikas Singh ‘Narrow Gauges Routes – 2007’ found on the Indian Railways Fan Club website http://www.irfca.org/docs/ng-routes-2007.html. There is earlier information on this site including Vikas Singh's earlier list http://www.irfca.org/docs/ng-routes.html and Simon Mortimer's article dating from 2002-3 http://www.irfca.org/docs/rinbad-ng.html.

In my July 2011 schedule I then used the Indian Railways website (http://www.trainenquiry.com/TrainsBetwImpStation.aspx link no longer works 21st October 2013) to try and establish what trains ran between the stations listed by Vikas Singh. This website appears to be no longer available.

The Indian Railways Passenger Reservation Enquiry website (http://www.indianrail.gov.in/inet_Srcdest.html) only gives times for the Darjeeling, Simla and Matheran lines……in other words it wasn’t much use!

http://indian-railway.swargate.com/Default.aspx and the India Rail Info site (http://indiarailinfo.com/) were used to update all other train times. If information wasn’t on one site I was able to find it on the other and in most cases have cross referenced between the two. I am unsure of the accuracy of these sites though.

I used various sources in attempting to discover the status of the other lines. The source of this information is included in the notes following the timetable. Any alterations, amendments or clarifications would be appreciated…….

The current service reflects the fact that the railway has suffered washaways in 2010 and 2011 which mean there is no through service currently.

Details are best checked from the website of the Darjeeling Himalayan Society (http://dhrs.org), normally this is to be found here - http://dhrs.org/page4.html. 

As of 8th October 2015 these comprised:

Joy Trains: Darjeeling-Ghum-Darjeeling
1. Train 52546 departs 0800 hrs (Diesel)
2. Train 52548 departs 1040 hrs (Steam)
3. Train 52574 departs 1100 hrs (Diesel)
4. Train 52549 departs 1320 hrs (Steam)
5. Train 52575 departs 1335 hrs (Diesel)
6. Train 52547 departs 1605 hrs (Steam)

Each train has two first class carriages. The train stops at the impressive Gurkha Memorial and viewpoint at Batasia Loop for 10 minutes and arrives at Ghum 50 minutes after departure from Darjeeling. At Ghum there is a break for 30 minutes and an opportunity to visit the railway museum. Admission to the museum is included in the fare. Only return tickets are sold. The current fare (June 2015) is Rs 1,095 (about £11.00) for steam services and Rs 625 (about £6.50) for diesel services.

At peak times the trains get booked up quickly, so early booking is advisable. You may be ‘wait-listed’ i.e. put on a waiting list with allocation of any unoccupied seats near to departure time. The entire round trip is about two hours.

‘Red Panda’: Darjeeling-Kurseong-Darjeeling (Steam)
Train 52570 (Tues, Thurs, Sat) departs Darjeeling 0910 hrs arriving Kurseong at 1245 hrs.
Train 52571 (Tues, Thurs, Sun) departs Kurseong 1400 hrs arriving Darjeeling at 1750 hrs.
Each train has two first class carriages.

‘Himalayan on Wheels’: Kurseong – Mahanadi - Kurseong (Steam)
Train 52573 (Sun Only) departs Kurseong 1015 hrs arrives Mahanadi 1125 hrs. Departs Mahanadi 1155 hrs arriving Kurseong 1235 hrs.
Train 52572 (Sat Only) departs Kurseong 1400 hrs arrives Mahanadi 1510 hrs. Departs Mahanadi 1540 hrs arriving Kurseong at 1620 hrs.
Each train has two first class carriages. On the outward trip there is a 30 minute stop at Giddapahar Siding for a viewpoint and the Netaji Bose Museum.

Darjeeling – Kurseong - Darjeeling (Diesel)
Train 52587 departs Kurseong 0700 hrs arriving Darjeeling 0945 hrs
Train 52588 departs Darjeeling 1600 hrs arriving Kurseong at 1840 hrs.

‘Jungle Safari’: Siliguri Junction – Rangtong – Siliguri Junction (Steam)
Train 52551 departs Siliguri Junction 1030 hrs, Sukna 1120 hrs arriving Rangtong at 1155 hrs. Departs Rangtong 1225 hrs arriving Sukna 1300 hrs and Siliguri Junction at 1340 hrs.

I was under the impression that the Burdwan to Katwa to Ahmadpur was closed for gauge conversion but then I found the following on The Statesman website:

Alert staff saves the day:

KOLKATA/DURGAPUR, 29 SEPT: 2011 With about 150 pandrol clips missing from the tracks, a passenger-carrying local train today narrowly escaped an accident due to the alertness of a railway staff. The incident took place near Katwa in Burdwan on the Burdwan-Katwa narrow-gauge section around 7.55 a.m. today. 
According to sources, the 523901 Up Passenger train had originated from Bolgona station at 6.55 a.m. and was going to Katwa. 
Around 7.55 a.m., with the train barely three km away of its destination, an on-duty key-man, Mr Monoranjan Pramanik, discovered that several pandrol clips were either missing or broken on the railway tracks between Ganguly Bagan and Jajirgram stations. Alarmed by the discovery, the key-man started waving a red flag indicating a distress signal to the passenger train. 
Consequent to this, the driver of the train, Mr AH Khan, applied emergency brake and the train stopped a little short of the damaged track. There were about 200 passengers on board the train. 
After inspection, senior railway officials found that about 150 pandrol clips were either broken or missing from the tracks from KM 49/1 to 49/3. Soon repair of the damaged track was undertaken and the task was completed around 9.50 a.m. The stranded passenger train resumed onward journey after that. While officials in the Howrah railway division suspect deliberate sabotage, a senior official posted at the Katwa junction observed otherwise. “It looks like thieves took away the pandrol clips,” he maintained. The railways has ordered a probe into the incident. 

Further internet searching found a return service daily between Katwa and Balgona which seem to be ng. No further services could be found between Burdwan - Katwa – Ahmadpur. Further details are in the section entitled ‘No Services’.

Subsequently this section has closed for gauge conversion (8th November 2015).

Note: 7xxxx is the Railmotor

From The Times of India website, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-01/chandigarh/31270042_1_rail-services-rail-traffic-northern-railways: (Link dead by May 2023)

Rail services between Pathankot - Joginder Nagar resumes
S GopalPuri, TNN Apr 1, 2012, 07.13AM IST

DHARAMSHALA: Rail services between Pathankot - Joginder Nagar, which remained suspended for the past seven months, got back to normal on Saturday. This has brought much relief for people living nearby, who had been hoping to commute for long. Flash floods last year had caused destruction of the track and a pillar of the bridge had been washed away.
Assistant divisional engineer, Northern Railway, M K Goel said, "We conducted a trial on the track on March 28 and all went fine. Three trains were already plied from Pathankot to Joginder Nagar." The first train started from Pathankot to Jogindernagar at 2am on Saturday, he said.
In December, high court bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice D DSud had summoned deputy commissioners of Kangra and Pathankot and senior officials of the Northern Railway, Firozpur Division, to explain the steps taken for restoring the rail traffic.
The repair work was executed by the Northern Railway, national highways and the mining department.

Note: 52182 terminates at Bari

Notes: 58841 terminates at Ramakona at 22.20
58839 continues to Jabalpur arriving at 08.15

Note: 58842 commences from Ramakona at 05.00
58840 commences from Jabalpur at 20.30 the previous day.

Note: 10002 is the Satpura Express
58840 continues to Nagpur arriving 15.30
58858 commences from Mandla Fort

Note: 58839 commences from Nagpur at 12.45 the previous day
10001 is the Satpura Express.

Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrow_gauge_railways_in_India) says Jabalpur to Nainpur
has been converted to broad gauge but I can find no reference to this elsewhere although I did find the following on The Times of India website from which it looks pretty clear the ng is still in operation:
(http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-17/nagpur/28379163_1_broad-gauge-gauge-conversion-jabalpur Link dead by May 2023)
Balaghat-Jabalpur protest march to demand rly line
TNN Jan 17, 2011, 06.04am IST
GONDIA: The convener of the Gondia - Jabalpur Broad Gauge Action Committee Virendrakumar Jaiswal has declared that they will march along the railway route from Balaghat to Jabalpur to press for their demand to complete the broad gauge railway track between Balaghat and Jabalpur.
The march, led by Jaiswal, shall begin at Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh) on February 7. Speaking to TOI, Jaiswal said that they had proposed such an agitation last year but at that time the railway administration had assured them that the work shall be completed by December 2010. The railways had also promised that the narrow gauge train that had been discontinued ten years ago too shall start running on broad gauge lines from January 26, 2011.
However, only Gondia - Balaghat and Gondia - Katangi routes have been started while work has not been completed beyond Balaghat so far. In protest, the committee has decided to launch this march to shame the railways.
Business between Balaghat district and Gondia has been tremendously affected over the last ten years as the railway track between the two districts remains disrupted for gauge conversion. The labourers also cannot afford to go by bus. So thousands of labourers on both sides have lost their jobs due to this. So Jaiswal has urged the railway administration to complete the gauge conversion as early as possible.

Note: 58858 continues to Balaghat

Note: Telibandha station is in an outer suburb of Raipur which is about 5 or 6km from Raipur Jn station.

No Services could be found between the following stations:

Shantipur to Nabadwip Ghat

From The Statesman website,

Mamata flags off railway project at Ranaghat
7 January 2010 
Statesman News Service
RANAGHAT, 7 JAN: Railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee today flagged off the commencement of work for conversion of 15 kilometre long narrow gauge line between Krishnagar junction and Shantipur junction into broad gauge at Ranaghat today.
The foundation stone for conversion of the 12 kilometre long narrow gauge line between Krishnagar Junction - Nabadwip Ghat stations into broad gauge was also laid by her.
Miss Banerjee said a computerised reservation centre will come up at Chakdah railway station and the service of the Sealdah - Kalyani ladies special train will be extended to Ranaghat station. The estimated project cost of the gauge conversion projects, which is scheduled to be completed by May this year, is Rs 115 crore, she added. 
The project cost for converting narrow gauge into broad gauge between Krishnagar junction and Shantipur is Rs 34 crore while Rs 81 crore will be spent to convert the narrow gauge into broad gauge between Krishnagar junction and Nabadwip Ghat stations. A total of 12 bridges would be constructed under the project. The railway minister also assured that a ladies special train will run between Sealdah and Krishnagar and coaches for the new train are being manufactured. The long standing proposal of laying third line between Sealdah and Ranaghat stations will be incorporated in the next railway budget, she maintained. A subway will be constructed at Naihati station.

Katwa to Burdwan and Ahmadpur

From The Statesman website:

Burdwan bids adieu to vintage narrow gauge trains 
14 April 2010 
Kanchan Siddiqui
BURDWAN, 14 APRIL: The Burdwan railway station today bade farewell to the vintage narrow gauge trains, as the Eastern Railways declared its decision to suspend narrow gauge services and initiate the first phase of broad gauge conversion between Burdwan and Balgona from tomorrow. Mr Dilip Kumar Sur, station manager, Burdwan, said: “Four pairs of ZDM rail cars marked their last journey from Burdwan station today, as a result of which a large number of people chose to take the trains today pushing up sales figures greatly.
Union railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee flagged off the first phase of broad gauge conversion of 25 km between Burdwan and Balgona on 3 April, which is slated to be completed by the end of December. The ministry has allocated Rs 245.15 crore for the purpose of gauge conversion and electrifying the vintage railway link. 
Mr Sukumar Nunia, whose family has long since been engaged in driving the narrow gauge trains said: “I have been driving narrow gauge trains since 1986. My grand father and my father were also drivers of the same train. It's good that the Burdwan - Katwa tracks will be converted to broad gauge. However, it's painful to see an era end". Sheikh Sentu, a daily commuter, said: “This train has become a part of my life in the past 10 years. Although it took me about two hours to cover 25 km, I will miss the ride." The services between Burdwan and Katwa and three other routes were introduced by British-owned McLeod & Company in 1928 to extend the railway network in Bengal. The operation was then resumed by the Indian Railways in April 1966. 
Four ZDM diesel locomotives have been meeting the requirements of commuters traveling between Burdwan and Katwa, covering a distance of 51.52 km. The gauge conversion between Burdwan and Katwa was flagged off by Mr Lalu Prasad on 30 June 2007, former Union railway minister.

Rob Dickinson could find no references to trains betweenKatwa and Ahmadpur for the last five years or so.

Ankleshwar to Rajpipla

From The Times of India website, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/budget-2012/rail-budget/what-is-new-in-railway-budget%202012/13/articleshow/12267354.cms:  (Link dead by May 2023)

What is new in Railway Budget 2012-13
TNN | Mar 14, 2012, 11.09PM IST
List of 19 gauge conversion works to be completed in 2011-12 
18. Ankeleshwar-Rajpipla

Chhuchapura to Tankhala

The Vikas Singh 2007 list says closed for the Dabhoi – Chhotaudeiper gauge conversion. No further information found.

Dabhoi to Timba Road 

The Vikas Singh 2007 list says closed due to breaches in 1993. No further information found.

Bharuch to Kavi

India Rail Info website says all services stopped for gauge conversion. Info dated 10/11/2011.

Samni to Dahej

The Vikas Singh 2007 list says Dahej – Bharuch to be broadened with work still to start.
No further information found.

Broad Gauge Services were found to be operating between the following stations:

Gondia to Balaghat to Katangi

Wikipedia says Gondia to Balaghat was reopened as broad gauge in 2005/06 and on to Katangi in 2010.

Miraj Jn - Pandharpur - Kurduvadi Jn - Barsi Town - Latur (300 km) (The former Barsi Light Railway)

Wikipedia says: All sections of this line have been converted to broad gauge.

Pratapnagar to Chhota Udepur

From The Times of India website, http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-26/vadodara/28636698_1_conversion-work-broad-gauge-gauge-conversion: (Link dead by May 2023)

Bodeli-Chhotaudepur railway line starts, to cover 100 km
TNN Feb 26, 2011, 10.47pm IST
VADODARA: Union minister of state for railways Bharatsinh Solanki inaugurated the Bodeli - Chhotaudepur broad gauge railway line and flagged off a train up to Chhotaudepur during a function organised at Pratapnagar railway station on Saturday.
The 99.71 km railway line from Pratapnagar to Chhottaudepur was one of the few surviving narrow gauge lines that was operational until the railways started broad gauge conversion work here.
The broad gauge conversion has been completed in three phases. While in the first phase, conversion of 28 km stretch between Pratapnagar and Dabhoi was completed by October 2008, in the second phase the gauge conversion from Dabhoi to Bodeli, a 36 km stretch was completed by April 2010. Now, the conversion work of 36.5 km Bodeli - Chhotaudepur railway has been completed at the expense of Rs 124 crore. Two up and down trains will daily run on this track passing six stations including Jabugam, Saskal, Pavi, Tejgadh, Puniyavat, Bodeli and Chhottaudepur.
Former minister of state (railways) Naran Rathwa took the same train to reach his home town Chhottaudepur after it was flagged off.
Talking to media persons, Solanki said the railway budget 2011 has brought in more allocation to Gujarat.
"It is for the first time in history of Gujarat that projects worth Rs 874 crore have been sanctioned for the state in the railway budget. Also, 16 new trains are being started in the state. Last time, projects worth Rs 343 crore were granted in the railway budget," he said.

Naupada to Gunupur

Wikipedia says: It is being converted to broad gauge and the conversion is expected to be complete in 2010.

From expressbuzz website, http://expressbuzz.com/topic/naupada-gunupur-line-inspection-begins-thursday/257239.html (link dead by April 2014).

Naupada - Gunupur line inspection begins Thursday
Last Updated : 17 Mar 2011 01:20:17 PM IST
RAYAGADA: The Naupada - Gunupur broad gauge line will finally see the light of the day with the Commissioner of Railway Safety scheduled to carry out high-speed trials on Paralakhemundi and Gunupur sections from Thursday.
The trials using special inspection train will be done between 7 am and 5.30 pm. An advisory has been issued by Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of the East Coast Railway, Vizag Division, HL Luwang to exercise caution while moving close to the track along Paralakhemundi and Gunupur. The safety inspection is a prelude to the opening of this section to passenger trains.
The Naupada - Gunupur track was laid by the erstwhile Gajapati Maharajas. Initially, a light rail was laid by the Maharaja Gaura Chandra Gajapati in 9001 and later extended to Gunupur by Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati. It was meant for use of the Maharajas for inspection of the estate and guiding the British rulers. After Independence, there have been demands and agitations to convert this into a broad gauge line and work on it began in 2004. 
With the usual hiccups, the conversion was completed up to Paralakhemundi last year and the trains even started plying up to Paralakhemundi last month.

The IRFCA website contains trip reports which cover many of these lines - http://irfca.org/apps/trip_reports

Particular mention should be made of the following although even the most recent reports are probably 'dated'.:

Ian Manning

• Ian Manning on the Indian Railways 1965-1969 - of course it's history but you'll find mention of some of these lines nearly 50 years ago.

Bharat Vohra

• Satpura NG Explorer [2005-02-18]

Mohan Bhuyan

• The Kangra Valley [2002-10-16]
• Upper Class to Sheopur Kalan [2009-03-28]

Saurab Basu

• Ahmadpur - Katwa NG Trip [2005-01-16]
• Wandering Amidst NG Paradise [2005-10-02]

Vaibhav Sarin

• Satpura Odyssey (IR Explorer) [2003-01-09]

Vikas Chander

• Kalka Trip Report [2004-07-01]

Vikas Singh

• Shimla Trip Report [2003-11-09]
• Barog trip report [2004-04-09]
• Dhaulpur NG trip [2004-04-13]
• Gwalior-Sumaoli NG trip. [2004-04-13]
• Khangra Valley Railway NG Trip [2004-05-29]
• Jabalpur-Balaghat NG trip [2004-06-14]
• Nainpur-Mandla Fort NG trip [2004-06-14]
• Barddhaman-Ahmadpur NG trip [2004-07-03]
• Murtijapur-Yavatmal NG trip [2004-10-18]
• Gujarat NG trip report [2004-11-09]
• Pulgaon-Arvi NG trip [2005-02-21]
• Nagpur-Jabalpur NG trip report [2005-12-21]

Viraf Mulla

• Nagpur - Jabalpur [2001-11-29]