DHR to Introduce Six Special Joyride Services for Durga Puja Festival Season
Guwahati, 26th August, 2026:
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
(DHR) a UNESCO World Heritage Site under Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is
set to introduce special additional joyride services from 1st October
2026 to make the upcoming Durga Puja festival season more memorable for
tourists and visitors. The initiative will offer enhanced opportunities to
experience the historic railway, breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural
heritage of the Darjeeling hills.
As part of the festival-season
initiative, DHR will operate four single trip joyrides between Darjeeling and
Ghum. Services from Darjeeling to Ghum will depart at 09:20 hrs and 11:25 hrs,
while services from Ghum to Darjeeling will depart at 10:25 hrs and 12:30 hrs.
These services will be operated by diesel-hauled trains with a proposed fare of
Rs. 800 per single journey.
In addition, DHR will
introduce two special round trip joyrides between Kurseong and Mahanadi,
providing passengers with an opportunity to enjoy one of the most scenic and
heritage-rich sections of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. The first service,
“Red Panda” will be steam hauled and will depart from Kurseong at 09:00 hrs,
return journey from Mahanadi at 10:00 hrs. The proposed fare for the round trip
is Rs. 1,530.
The second-round trip service,
“Mukta Dhara” will be diesel hauled and will depart from Kurseong at 15:15 hrs
with the return journey from Mahanadi at 16:00 hrs. The proposed round-trip
fare is Rs. 1,030. The service has been named “Mukta Dhara” as a tribute to
Rabindranath Tagore, one of India’s most celebrated poets and literary figures.
Tagore’s celebrated poem Mukta Dhara is associated with the natural beauty of
Paglajhora, adding a distinctive literary and cultural dimension to the new
service.
The introduction of these
special joyrides further strengthens NFR’s efforts to preserve and promote the
rich legacy of DHR while offering an enhanced travel experience. The services
will provide tourists and local visitors an opportunity to enjoy the unique
combination of heritage rail travel, steam technology, breathtaking mountain
landscapes and the cultural richness of the Darjeeling hills. Ahead of the
regular commencement, a special run of “Mukta Dhara” will be organised at
Mahanadi Railway Station towards the end of September, during the eve of the
Station Mahotsav.
The festival-season initiative
is expected to add a distinctive dimension to tourism in the Darjeeling hills,
giving travellers more opportunities to discover the region’s historic railway,
scenic splendour and cultural heritage. Through these special services, DHR
seeks to offer an enriching and memorable journey that brings together history,
nature and the timeless charm of the hills. A
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