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Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is one of the most reputed railway lines in Tamil Nadu. It runs between Mettupalayam and Ooty and offers some exciting views to the foreign and domestic tourists boarding it. In the earlier days, it was known for its steam locomotives used for operations. It was one of the few railway lines that still used the old steam locomotives. After some reconstruction and renovation works, the sector between Coonoor and Ooty started using diesel locomotives, but till date, there have been repeated demands for the tourists to bring the steam locomotives back into operation. In 2005, the NMR along with the DHR (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) was recognised as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO. These two railways then came to be commonly known as Mountain Railways of India.
History
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was established during 1908 by the British rulers. At the time of its inception, NMR came under the control of Madras Railways. It is currently under the control of Salem zone which was newly formed by the Indian Railways. However, the idea for setting up this railway was conceptualised during 1854 itself. Due to various factors like delays in government approvals, implementation going slow against plans etc., this idea saw only limited progress. It was finally in 1899 that the line was completed and opened to the public. At that time, the Madras Railways controlled the operations of this line. However, it was during 1908 that the line between Coonoor and Ooty was added on to this existing line. This extension cost the Railways a whopping 24.5 lakh INR during that time. The length of this extension was about a quarter less than 12 miles.
Route
Currently, this line runs up to 26 km and offers an exciting route up and down the hill. The drive up the hill takes close to 5 hours and the drive down the hill takes close to 4 hours. There is enough thrill all along the route of this railway line with around 208 curves, 250 bridges and 16 tunnels. The highlight of NMR is that the track on this line is the steepest in the continent of Asia. The gradient level here is 8.33%.
The train starts from Mettupalayam junction, which can be reached by crossing over the railway station at Coimbatore. Mettupalayam is located at about 1069 feet above sea level. From here, the train then reaches Kallar station (1260ft ht.), from where the pace of the train picks up slowly.
Next comes the Adderly Station (2390ft ht.), where the train halts as it is a water-stop station. This is no more a passenger station. The train then travels to Hillgrove station (3580ft ht.) where passengers can get some refreshments. Runneymede station (4612ft ht.) that comes next is a water-stop station.
Next on the route is Kateri Road Station (5070ft ht.), which is currently not in use as a train-stop. Then comes the Coonoor station (5616ft ht.), where locomotives are changed and the direction of the train is reversed a bit to travel to Ooty (7228ft ht.) after passing through stations like Wellington (5804ft ht.), Aruvankadu (6144ft ht.), Ketti (6864ft ht.) and Lovedale (7000ft ht.).
Time Table
The NMR in the Mettupalayam-Ooty sector has only one train daily. The train starts from Mettupalayam starts at 7.10 AM and reaches Ooty by 12 noon. The train that starts from Ooty at 2.00 PM reaches Mettupalayam by 5.35 PM. During summer seasons, which are also the holiday season, an additional train is operated that leaves Mettupalayam and Ooty at 9.30 AM and 12.15 PM respectively. The sector between Coonoor and Ooty has four trains per day.
Cost
For a one-way trip in the NMR, passengers need to shell out 24 INR for second class and 142 INR for first class seats.
Reservation
The official website of Indian Railways can be used for booking tickets on the NMR. Since these trains are in high demand during the summers, which also prove to be holiday seasons, passengers are advised to book their tickets well in advance to avoid disappointment.
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