The Hindu : National : Railways seek heritage status for Matheran

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 16, 2007
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Railways seek heritage status for Matheran

Sandeep Joshi

It was explored as a summer resort in mid-19th century

MATHERAN (MAHARASHTRA): After having successfully repaired the washed away sections of 100-year-old Matheran Light Railway in the Sahaydri mountain range near Mumbai and having restarted the 20-km-long rail service after a gap of 18 months in March this year, the Railways now eagerly await verdict from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) seeking “World Heritage” status for the unique narrow-gauge rail network.

The Railways had first approached the UNESCO in 2005, seeking its inclusion of as a World Heritage site under “Mountain Railways of India” list, which presently includes Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway . Railways’ proposal for Matheran rail network along with Kalka-Shimla Railway is now under UNESCO’s consideration.

“Picturesque view”

“We have a strong case for the Matheran Light Railway to be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage list. While travelling for over two hours on the six-coach heritage train that passes through difficult and steep mountainous terrain, passengers can enjoy the picturesque view of thickly wooded ridges and valleys over 2000 feet below. We have been painstakingly maintaining the entire network — tracks, rakes, engines and stations — which is truly a world heritage site,” Soumya Raghavan, general manager of Central Railway which runs the Matheran Light Railway, told The Hindu.

Matheran was explored as a summer resort in the middle of 19th century which soon became a popular resort of the British Raj. Abdul Hussain, son of business tycoon Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy of Mumbai, started its construction in 1904 and it was finally opened to traffic in 1907. by privately-owned Matheran Steam Light Tramway Company and later taken over by the Central Railway.

“Matheran Light Railway that has over 121 small bridges and one tunnel [interestingly known as ‘one-kiss tunnel’]. It passes through 221 sharp curves with train running at a maximum speed of 20 kmph, which is reduced to less than 10 kmph on sharp curves. It is not the just the engine driver but one operator in each of the six coaches that control movement of train by applying brakes on coaches. We today operate four rakes and six diesel engines on the system,” said Central Railway spokesperson S.C. Mudgerikar.

Round the year, except for monsoon when the rail system is closed, foreigners as well as domestic tourists in large numbers board the heritage train.

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