The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) authorities held a trial run of its Toy Train from Siliguri Junction to Tindharia on Tuesday to check the condition of tracks.

“We conducted the trial run as a part of our preparedness as the central government is coming up with relaxations in different sectors during these days (as a part of the gradual unlock process). If any decision is made over resumption of normal train services, we will have to resume our services,” said an official of the DHR.

During Tuesday’s trial run, the Toy Train covered around 35km, which is almost half the total length of the tracks from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to Darjeeling.

On August 24, a similar trial run was conducted, but on a shorter route, from Siliguri Junction to Rongtong.

Asked about the tracks, the DHR officials said the entire stretch appeared fine. However, on June 29, there was a landslide on NH55 that runs parallel to the tracks, near Paglajhora (between Tindharia and Kurseong).

“The tracks narrowly escaped the slide but the adjacent stretch of the road caved in. It is risky to run the train through this stretch. Once the road is repaired, we will conduct the trial run from Tindharia to Kurseong and beyond,” said an official.

Because of the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and suspension of regular trains — only some special trains are running in these days across the country — the services of the DHR have been held up for over five months now.

In the hills, tourist arrivals have halted since March, too.

“We hope tourists start coming during the upcoming Durga Puja holidays. There is a chance that our services would open by then. We will obviously follow all the SOPs (standard operating protocols) to ensure the health and safety of the passengers. The trial run was needed to ensure that once we get a go-ahead to resume our services, there is no delay for any technical reasons,” the official added.

The heritage railway service is one of the main attractions for visitors to Darjeeling. Over the past few years, the number of passengers has only increased. In the immediate past fiscal, for the first time in its history, over one lakh passengers had boarded the Toy Train.

More passengers had also prompted the railways to come up with new services and introduce vista dome coaches — with transparent plexi-glass roofs and wide picture windows — as well as air-conditioned coaches to make the services more popular among tourists.