Neral is the starting point of travelling on the Matheran Hill Railway (MHR). This enthralling journey in the viridescent Western Ghats is a journey of around two hours. Our railway batch planned a reunion at Matheran, travelling by this train.
The MHR is a 2ft narrow-gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, under the control of the Central Railway zone.
Neral rises 40m above sea level and is around 85kms from Mumbai. Jumma Patti and Water Pipe are the only two railway stations along the way.
Several bird species including egrets, the common bulbul and Bonneted Macaques are spotted throughout this region all the way up to Matheran. The odyssey amidst a thick forest cover is a distance of 21km, connecting Neral to Matheran.
The Neral–Matheran Light Railway was built between 1901and 1907 by Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy and financed by his father, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy, at a cost of $160000.
Hussein’s plans for developing the Matheran Hill Railway were formulated in 1900, and construction commenced in the year 1904. The architect to execute the plans was a Britisher named Everard Calthrop. Commercial operations on this incredible line opened in 1907.
We in the toy-train were rendered speechless at the crawling pace of a mere 12kms per hour, where we felt the enchanting clouds passing by.
Train operations were wrecked and infrastructure ravaged in 2005 as the entire area was flooded following a cloud burst. However, ingenious engineers restored the track by July 2007 and operations resumed.
It is noteworthy to mention that the MHR celebrated its centenary operations that year.
Neral, from where the journey commences is in close proximity to Mumbai. It is a majestic sight to see the narrow-gauge line running parallel to the broad-gauge line west of Hardal Hill before turning eastwards, prior to the ascent towards Matheran.
Rail and road cross each other’s path at Jummapatti, and once again unite after a brief separation at Bhekra Khud. After a short level stretch, we had our jaws dropping at the sharp ascent just before Mount Barry.
A large horseshoe embankment was built to eliminate a reversing station here. The line runs for a mile or so northwards around this before turning to take the One-Kiss Tunnel through the embankment.
Once we reached Matheran, our batch was housed in a reasonably priced, furnished lodge. Once settled-in we embarked upon a trek up the mountain slopes of the Sahyadris.
Our batchmates clambered (including some potbellied ones) the majestic peaks and encountered grandiose cascading waterfalls. All the slopes are dotted with several hues of green, making it the cynosure of any traveller.
As hikers we witnessed the origin of a stream on in the rocks. This would eventually emerge as a boisterous river as we followed its trajectory along the river bed. The might of the Sahyadris with thickly wooded ridges and imposing formations made for fantastic views along the way. This is certainly an amazing destination in Incredible India.
“The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life,” writes Agnus Reppler.
The writer is an IRTS (retired) officer and presently CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd, Raipur and has travelled all over India.