Officials of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) have started taken initiatives to resume toy train services of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), as tourists have started visiting the hills.

Toy Train services had been suspended since March this year because of the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

On Saturday, R.K. Verma, the divisional railway manager of Katihar division of the NFR, visited Kurseong, the hill town that houses the headquarters of the DHR. “Toy Train services had stopped because of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown that was clamped across the country. During this period, we have regularly carried out maintenance works of the rail tracks and other properties. As the tourists are gradually turning up in hills, we want the Toy Train services to resume and are waiting for necessary consent from the state government. We have already communicated with the state on the issue,” he said.

On Saturday morning, Verma reached New Jalpaiguri from Katihar and inspected the DHR tracks and the rolling stock at the NJP and Siliguri Junction. He then left for Kurseong.

Sources said that Sanjive Roy, the general manager of the NFR, would also visit the hills next week to inspect the tracks, the DHR workshop and other infrastructure.