Matheran is a famous hill stations around 83 kms away from Mumbai. These hills located in Raigad districts of Maharashtra state and they are the part of Sahyadri mountain ranges. It is very popular place for Mumbaikars which can be approached by train or roadways. The nearest railway station is Neral. The toy train is operated from Neral station to Matheran hills which is about 21 kms in distance passing through the forests and picturesque route.
- The famous toy train was inaugurated on 15th April 1907.
- It is a narrow-gauge heritage railway which is under the control of Central Railway.
- The railway line work was initiated by Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy and financed by his father, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy.
- The cost for construction of railway line was 16,00,000.
- Adamjee Peerbhoy visited Matheran often, and wanted to build a railway to make it easier to get there.
- Hussain’s plans for the Matheran Hill Railway were formulated in 1900, and construction began in 1904.
- The consulting engineer was Everard Calthrop.
Due to various incidences such as landslide during monsoon the services were disrupted. The latest disruption came when the services were affected over 2 years due to damaged caused by the Cyclone Nisarga. To make the services better, in the union budget of 2022-2023, ₹5 crore has been allocated for the work on the Neral-Matheran route.
How to reach Matheran?
By Train
Get down at Neral railway station. All trains going towards Karjat and Khopoli halt at Neral station.
From railway station you can take toy train which takes around 2 hours of journey time. During rainy season the frequency is less. Many trekkers even go walking till Matheran.
By Road
If travelling with own vehicle or state transport will take 30 minutes. But will have to halt 2.5 kms prior to the Matheran. Thereafter need to travel on horseback, rickshaw or by walking. At Dasturi peak will get parking space for cars.
Article source: Wikipedia.com
image source: go4mumbai.com & flickr.com