Ooty Toy Train Hits 20 Years As UNESCO Heritage Site

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway ( NMR ), which hit the spotlight when it was featured in the ‘Chaiya Chaiya’ song from ‘Dil Se’ (1998), celebrated 20 years of its heritage status on July 15. Considered a marvel of engineering and technology, the NMR, the steepest mountain railway in the country, which was constructed in 1908, was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2005.

Also called the ‘ Ooty Toy Train ’, it is known for offering a ‘fairytale’ experience of the Nilgiri Hills. It is the only rack-and-pinion line running the 46km distance from Mettupalayam to Ooty. It remains the most popular among tourists, including foreigners. But charm apart, the NMR journey almost ended in the late 1960s, but it was saved at the last moment by public outrage and media coverage. In 1968, faced with mounting financial losses, the Railway Board announced the closure of all ‘uneconomic’ rail lines. The NMR fell into this category and was set to be shut down. There was widespread public uproar against the closure.

READ ALSO: NMR, also called the ‘Ooty Toy Train’, is known for offering a ‘fairytale’ experience of the Nilgiri Hills

As per records with the Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC), a national English daily warned, ‘The proposal to dismantle the 70-year-old mountain railway, which occupies a vital position in the slender economy of the Nilgiris district, will upset the economy and may well result in the migration of a large number of people to others parts of the country in quest of livelihood’.

Rani, a Tamil weekly, said, ‘Ooty without the railway will be like a flower which has lost its fragrance.’ Readers also voiced their opposition. A traveller wondered whether the govt would also consider scrapping the Shimla line, which had been known to be a more significant loss-making route.
Dharmalingam Venugopal, founder director of NDC, says chief minister M Karunanidhi , who was then the minister for public works, assured the state assembly that the govt would advocate for keeping the line open.

“Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had assured a local MP that she had instructed the railway minister to consider ‘all relevant aspects’ before deciding to scrap the line,” says Venugopal.

The railway minister announced in the Lok Sabha in March 1969 that ‘there would be no dismantling of uneconomic lines in any part of the country’.