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Nilgiri Mountain Railway
The 'Nilgiri Passenger' as the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is popularly called, connects Mettupalayam with Udhagamandalam or the hill station of Ooty in Tamilnadu. The train covers a distance of 41.8 kms or 26 miles on one of the steepest tracks in Asia. The Salem Division of the Southern Railway operates the Nilgiri Mountain Railway. The steam locomotives that are still largely used by the Nilgiri Mountain Railway are expensive to operate and maintain and hence cause heavy losses of upto Rs. 4 crores (USD 1 million) per year to the Southern Railway. Yet the popularity of the line and because Nilgiri Mountain Railway was declared as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2005 as part of the Mountain Railways of India, the Southern Railway is forced to operate this line. Modernisation plans also had to be abandoned after the World Heritage Site status was achieved because of the criteria that have to be fulfilled to gain this status.
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway has been made famous by the famous Hindi film song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” which was shot on the roof of this train.
The Route
- The train starts from Mettupalayam only 1069 feet above sea level at the foot of the Nilgiris. Mettupalayam Junction also serves the Indian Gauge line from Coimbatore. After leaving Mettupalayum, there is a short drop till the Bhavani River before it starts to climb.
- The train reaches Kallar, a distance of 8 km (5 miles) and altitude of 1,260 ft (384 m).This is not a passenger station but the place where the rack rail begins. The gradient from here on is 1 in 12 (8.33%).
- The train reaches Adderly, a distance of 13 km (8.1 miles), and altitude of 2,390 ft (728.5 m) - This is not a passenger station but a water stop.
- The train reaches Hillgrove, a distance of 18 km (11.2 miles), and altitude of 3,580 ft (1,091.2 m) This is a block post and water stop with refreshments for passengers.
- The train reaches Runneymede, a distance of 21 kms (13 miles), and altitude of 4,612 ft (1,405.7 m) This is not a passenger station but the water stop.
- The train reaches Kateri Road, a distance of 25 km (15.5 miles) and altitude of 5,070 ft (1,545.3 m) Trains do not stop here.
- The train reaches Coonoor, a distance of 28 km (17.4 miles), and altitude of 5,616 ft (1,711.8 m) This is a main intermediate station with locomotive workshops for maintenance and also the top end of the rack rail. Trains have to reverse a short distance before continuing their climb to Ooty. Usually locomotives are changed here with diesel traction.
- The train reaches Wellington, a distance of 29 km (18 miles), and altitude of 5,804 ft (1,769.1 m)
- The train reaches Aruvankadu, a distance of 32 km (19.9 miles) and altitude of 6,144 ft (1,872.7 m)
- The train reaches Ketti, a distance of 38 km (23.6 miles), and altitude of 6,864 ft (2,092.1 m)
- The train reaches Lovedale, a distance of 42 km (26.1 miles) and altitude of 7,694 ft (2,345.1 m). From a short distance before Lovedale, the line descends into Ooty.
- The train reaches Ooty, a distance of 46 km (28.6 miles) and altitude of, 7,228 ft (2,203.1 m) ..
Udhagamandalam (Ooty) is at an altitude of 2600 m. It is called The Queen of Hill Stations. The time taken for the journey to Ooty is around 290 minutes (4.8 hours), and the downhill journey takes 215 minutes (3.6 hours) The maximum gradient in the journey is 8.33% and there are 208 curves, 16 tunnels, and 250 bridges.
Special features.
- Abt rack and pinion system is used between Mettupalayam and Coonoor to climb the steep gradient. The locomotives used on this section is X Class steam rack locomotive.
- These steam locomotives can be used on any part of the line with or without the rack section but the newer diesel locomotives can operate on the entire section, This is the beginning of the process to phase out the coal-fired vintage Swiss engines that are six to eight decades old,.
- The new engines weighs a little over 50 tonnes and cost Rs.10 crore.and have been provided with pilot and primary burners with separate tanks to hold about 850 litres of diesel and 2,250 litres of furnace oil. The hauling capacity of this new engine is 97.6 tonnes and it can run at a speed of 30 km an hour in the plains and at 15 km an hour on a gradient.
- Old style manual tickets are issued on the Ooty-Mettupalayam journey to preserve the 'World Heritage Site' status of the railway.
- Repairs of diesel locomotives are carried out at the Coonoor shed and steam locomotives at the Golden Rock Workshops. Carriages are repaired at Mettupalayam but, like the locomotives, are taken to one of the big railway workshops for major work.