Toy locos to Matheran out for desi precision

Monday, June 16 1997

Toy locos to Matheran out for desi precision

Ashish Wagh

MUMBAI, June 15: For 41 years, tourists to Matheran, one of the many hill stations developed by the British to escape the ``oppressive heat'' of Indian cities, have had to travel by trains pulled by locomotives that were more suited for museums. No more. The Central Railway (CR) will soon replace these German-made engines with indigenously manufactured locomotives.

The introduction of the new engines manufactured by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) will mark a new chapter in the history of this hill station. The trial runs are already being conducted on the 21-kilometre route between Neral and Matheran. Sources in the railways said the new engines are more efficient than the German Hertz in use since 1956.

According to Jamshed Lord, a resident of Matheran, ``The demand for new locomotives was being made repeatedly. It will help passengers reach the hill station faster and more comfortably.''

Another resident Sushil Shinde said, ``It was because of us locals' efforts that the locomotives have been introduced.''

The old German locomotives are reportedly almost non-functional now. Despite the efforts of the Matheran Light Railway Workshop at Neral, out of the seven locos, only three are operational at any given point of time. The old locomotives had posed serious problems on some occasions when they failed mid-way. The Neral workshop staff told Express Newsline that the only solution to the problem was the induction of new engines.

``The German locos are very hard to maintain. Spares are not available, and those locally available give way in a few months,'' said an engineer.

He said they have been following up Matheran residents' demand for new engines with the authorities at the CR headquarters for years now.A month ago, the BHEL's Bangalore branch sent the first engine by road.

The only people not happy with this new development are the taxi operators. They fear loss of business. While a train ride to Matheran costs only Rs 45 per seat, the taxi operators charge much more.