Scenic route
Darjeeling Toy Train
New Jalpaiguri → Darjeeling · India
Darjeeling Toy Train in pictures
Photographs by their authors, hosted on Wikimedia Commons · tap through for the licence
- Distance
- 88 km
- Fastest time
- ≈ 7 h
- Average speed
- 13 km/h
- Top speed
- 25 km/h
- Operator
- Indian Railways ↗
- Train
- B-Class steam · diesel
- Countries
- India
- In service since
- 1881
- Highest point
- 2,258 m
- Runs
- 1× daily each way, plus Darjeeling–Ghum steam joyrides
Figures are published values, not live data · corrections log
A two-foot-gauge UNESCO marvel looping up to 2,200 m: steam engines older than the tea gardens they pass.
From the plains the little train climbs into cloud forest on a roadbed that swaps sides with the Hill Cart Road like an old dance partner, gaining height through reverses and horseshoe curves. The crest comes at Ghum, at 2,258 m India’s highest station, before a final swoop round the Batasia Loop where Kanchenjunga fills the northern sky on clear mornings. Glasgow-built B-Class saddle tanks, some over a century old, still work the showpiece services with crews three generations deep.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 2663438 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 8 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Indian Railways — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Along the way
- Sukna — plains give way to forest
- Tindharia works and Agony Point loop
- Kurseong bazaar running
- Ghum — India’s highest station at 2,258 m
- Batasia Loop with Kanchenjunga views
How long is the Darjeeling Toy Train?
The Darjeeling Toy Train runs 88 km from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling.
How long does the Darjeeling Toy Train take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 7 h for the 88 km. That is an average of 13 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 25 km/h.
Who runs the Darjeeling Toy Train?
Indian Railways, with B-Class steam, diesel.
How old is the Darjeeling Toy Train?
The line has been in service since 1881. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How high does the Darjeeling Toy Train climb?
2,258 m above sea level at its highest point.
View on the world railway map →More scenic routes
- Glacier Express
“The world’s slowest express”: 291 bridges, 91 tunnels and the 2,033 m Oberalp Pass at an average of 36 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bernina Express
A UNESCO World Heritage railway: 7 % grades with no rack, the Brusio spiral, and the highest rail crossing of the Alps at 2,253 m.
Wikipedia ↗ - Bergensbanen
Northern Europe’s highest main line: over the bare Hardangervidda plateau at 1,237 m, through 182 tunnels.
Wikipedia ↗ - West Highland Line
Regularly voted the world’s most scenic railway: around Rannoch Moor and over the 21-arch Glenfinnan Viaduct of film fame.
Wikipedia ↗
More train routes in India.