Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
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A spectacular narrow gauge steam railway is still operational.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
877 reviews
Excellent
374
Very good
242
Average
154
Poor
54
Terrible
53
Sukrit G
Dubai, United Arab Emirates68 contributions
Mar 2023
We took the diesel-engine ride from Darjeeling railway station to Batasia Loop and Ghoom railway station and back to Darjeeling railway station on the morning of March 18. The first thing that struck me was the confusion we faced boarding the right carriage as two train runs had been clubbed into one and the signs were not clear as to who should board which carriage. Other than this confusion, the train ride was fine but the route it took was not. The train wound itself through a series of overcrowded shanty-like stretches that were plain ugly, the park inside Batasia Loop was equally bland and underwhelming and the Ghoom railway station was a grimy one. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Museum which was a part of the joyride was a crashing bore.
Written 24 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
sdSKC
La Jolla, CA5 contributions
Feb 2023 • Friends
Toy train was a pleasant experience, scenic and unique ride. The highlight was the momos at the tea stall at the station. Old woman in the back of the shop spun her magic into one of the tastiest dishes during our visit. Not to be missed.
Written 20 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Sherpa Lama Dawa
Kathmandu, Nepal444 contributions
Mar 2022 • Family
A must visit place before you die & one must hop on the antique train left by the Britishers. The funny part is one can only find in Darjeeling the trains caught in the traffic jam, stopping & letting vehicles pass!
Written 28 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Ritesh Maity
Kolkata (Calcutta), India39 contributions
Oct 2022
The joy ride starting from Darjeeling to Ghoom and back to Darjeeling takes about 2 hours, with 15 mins stop at Batasia Loop and 20 minutes at the Ghoom Railway Museum. There are two types of train - Diesel engine (Rs.1000/-)and a heritage steam engine (Rs.1500/-). The journey is through the main road with lots of traffic and buildings around. This is my second time Joy Ride and won't recommend it to anyone who have already experienced it earlier. And this time our train was late by more than an hour. The tickets can be booked online from irctc website.
Luckily this time we got an excellent weather and view only which made the journey worth remembering.
Luckily this time we got an excellent weather and view only which made the journey worth remembering.
Written 30 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
AA
Bengaluru, India1 contribution
Oct 2022 • Family
We took the DHR route DJ-DJRJ where we would cover Batasia loop and Ghoom museum. Spending 1500 rs per head, for vistasome coach steam engine ride, we had booked the ticket in advance.
Pros:
1. We got proper seats as expected, no great rush as such.
Cons:
1. The train arrived 3 hours late as compared to the scheduled time, because of which our remaining plans just got spoiled.
2. The route that we chose, that no great ‘view’ in itself, the train just went through the narrow roads of the town with houses on both sides, and other vehicles moving next to us. So we just witnessed a road full of traffic and congestion and close to 6-7 times train being stopped because of inadequacy of coal, water and not sure what.
3. Once we reached the Batasia loop, the train operator (or the conductor not sure who he was) announced that the train will stop for 15 mins there, which we had read earlier that they give 30 mins, it actually stopped for just 9 mins, which of course was a mess because we couldn’t even walk upto few metres to see the garden… it was that congested. I am thinking this was because the train was already running late, and it had other rounds to cover.
4. The coach that they call ‘vistadome’, where the expectation is generally to see transparent roofs,with a nice view, was all coated with layers of black dust probably because of emission from the engine, and rain, adding to the dirt.
Pros:
1. We got proper seats as expected, no great rush as such.
Cons:
1. The train arrived 3 hours late as compared to the scheduled time, because of which our remaining plans just got spoiled.
2. The route that we chose, that no great ‘view’ in itself, the train just went through the narrow roads of the town with houses on both sides, and other vehicles moving next to us. So we just witnessed a road full of traffic and congestion and close to 6-7 times train being stopped because of inadequacy of coal, water and not sure what.
3. Once we reached the Batasia loop, the train operator (or the conductor not sure who he was) announced that the train will stop for 15 mins there, which we had read earlier that they give 30 mins, it actually stopped for just 9 mins, which of course was a mess because we couldn’t even walk upto few metres to see the garden… it was that congested. I am thinking this was because the train was already running late, and it had other rounds to cover.
4. The coach that they call ‘vistadome’, where the expectation is generally to see transparent roofs,with a nice view, was all coated with layers of black dust probably because of emission from the engine, and rain, adding to the dirt.
Written 15 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Deb G
Kolkata (Calcutta), India226 contributions
Jun 2022
Well this joyride has become a govt. sponsored tourist fleecing scheme. We paid 1500/- each for this approx. 2 hour to n fro ride from Darjeeling to Ghum. The route is so un-photogenic (through epic traffic jams and street shops) that I hardly clicked anything during the trip. The exception would be Batasia Loop and Ghum museum / station which you can visit separately. After some time I just dozed off.
Greatest proof of fleecing is the fare charged, which was equal to the fare charged from NJP to Darjeeling by the same DHR!! And I did take that trip fours years back, views are really worth if you have time - it takes around 8 hours to complete. DHR is simply cashing on the UNESCO heritage tag, which in the long run will prove counter-productive by spoiling the 'Swapna ki Rani' image of this train.
Greatest proof of fleecing is the fare charged, which was equal to the fare charged from NJP to Darjeeling by the same DHR!! And I did take that trip fours years back, views are really worth if you have time - it takes around 8 hours to complete. DHR is simply cashing on the UNESCO heritage tag, which in the long run will prove counter-productive by spoiling the 'Swapna ki Rani' image of this train.
Written 8 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
akghosal
Stoke-on-Trent, UK53 contributions
Mar 2022
Rode the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy Train/DHR) from Darjeeling station to Ghum (Ghoom) station for the steam joyride. It is quite an old fashioned railway in the sense that it is narrow gauge, still run by old steam trains (therefore making it a World Heritage Site) but it was a relatively enjoyable and pleasant experience for me and also unique in the sense that the railway follows the roadside for the most part (whereas most heritage railways I've been on run away from the roadsides). Also there were some bits where the mountains and hills were visible (although as it was quite foggy when I visited, most of the mountains were not visible though that didn't matter too much for me) and the stopover at Batasia Loop was also nice while at Ghum, I looked around the museum featuring the Railway's history. My only problems with the railway are that both Darjeeling and Ghum stations looked a bit run-down and somewhat poorly maintained while cleanliness of the train carriages could be better (though they were okay for the most part), so it would be useful if those are all addressed in the future, but otherwise, I enjoyed my experience of the Toy Train.
Written 9 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
AJ310B
Mumbai, India103 contributions
May 2022 • Couples
What a disappointing ride. It's noisy, polluting, and you spend most of your time passing shops. The train compartment was dirty and the seats cramped and uncomfortable. All you get to see most of rhe time is an overcrowded city with a crumbling infrastructure. Sad to see. Visit the station, absorb the history and take your photos there.
Written 8 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
JamesNewt
NJ17 contributions
Apr 2022 • Couples
Darjeeling is an unique experience , part of West Bengal, City is very crowded with lots of cars and construction and lack of water and sanitation even with all the negativity still has a charm due to its rich history.
The trains are old not well-maintained, I can say they could use a little love and a good cleaning nonetheless the ride in a 1800 small gauge engine powered by steam in itself and experience that might make the entire trip worth it.
It’s 2 1/2 hour ride winding through the various town shopping peoples houses and experience of Darjeeling maybe you can imagine what it was like so many years ago
The train engineer does whistle very often and the whistle is loud but that is to keep people away from the tracks and make them aware
The trains are old not well-maintained, I can say they could use a little love and a good cleaning nonetheless the ride in a 1800 small gauge engine powered by steam in itself and experience that might make the entire trip worth it.
It’s 2 1/2 hour ride winding through the various town shopping peoples houses and experience of Darjeeling maybe you can imagine what it was like so many years ago
The train engineer does whistle very often and the whistle is loud but that is to keep people away from the tracks and make them aware
Written 7 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Pratim B
Tampa, FL92 contributions
Mar 2022 • Couples
Don’t! What a waste of time. We took this train from Ghoom to Darjeeling. The train engineer blew the horn at all time due to congestion on the track. There is no view due to unauthorized overbuild homes and businesses.
Written 17 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Subhrendu
Feltham, UK3 contributions
Hi All,
We are planning for a trip to Darjeeling later this year during Christmas time. I have a couple of questions and any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated.
1) One day, we are planning to go to Tiger Hill in the morning, come back to our hotel (The Elgin), have breakfast and go for the toy train ride at 9:45 AM. Is it feasible?
2) I am trying to book the toy train tickets in the irctc portal. I read in multiple places, the station codes should be DJ (To) and DJRZ (From). Unfortunately, when I select these I get an error. But when I select Ghum as the destination, I am getting the ticket. I am unable to understand whether this is a one way ticket or is it the round trip and it's just a glitch in the portal (the price seems to be the same, INR 1000/person). Kindly help.
Thanks and regards,
Subhrendu
Teresa C
Madrid, Spain
How can I buy tickets for the traían? We”ll be staying at Singtom Tea State.
is it one way fare or return journey fare???
jackzipper
Aizawl, India80 contributions
It will be a matter of choice. Either is available.
Eddie P
Cambridge, UK8 contributions
We plan to travel the whole length of the railway. Do the carriages have toilets? Do you have to take food and drink with you when you get on the train?
Attul Handoo
New Delhi, India145 contributions
Yes, the coaches have toilets. But going all the way on the train will get repetitive and boring after a certain time. Food/snacks are available at the stations.
I want to book a try train, I want to know the name of station where i should start and stop. Please advise
Yadlapati
Visakhapatnam, India318 contributions
Book on IRCTC coz if the bookings are full you may not be able to board it at Darjeeling and may have to miss the joy ride
The station codes are DJ to DJRZ on irctc,
WolverhamptonRob
Wolverhampton49 contributions
Is the railway currently operating, I thought there was a strike and political issues that had stopped it from running
RYVR
Pune, India187 contributions
It was running when I visited in April. I hear there is a lot of unrest there now. You may want to check about the timings now as they may have changed.
Thanks
sumedharao
Chennai (Madras), India2 contributions
how to book for joy train ride in advance.. because the irctc web site says no booking allowed for this...do we have to go in person to book this darjeeling station?pleasd suggest
Alok G
Taipei, Taiwan137 contributions
Can book online & if not season can ticket also their ..
what is departure time of Darjeeling toy train from Siliguri junction,at some sites it's showing 9.00 and some are showing 9.30 am?
SylviaJohnas
Thane, India30 contributions
We went in the evening for the joyride. so i am not sure of the morning timing. the tickets were booked by my tour guide. Please check the website or ask your tour operator.
How far is narrow gauge platform from platform number 1A at new jalpaiguri station?
What is departure time of Darjeeling toy train from Siliguri junction,I some sites it's showing 9.00 and some are showing 9.30 am?
Md S
Kolkata (Calcutta), India
How long it will take from njp to darjeeling and do i need to book tickets in advance ?
And fare?
Arindambasu
Nagpur, India19 contributions
The services from NJP to Darjeeling is not frequent and regular and hence you should check that from NJP station before booking any tickets.
The trip usually takes 7 hours.
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
- Hotels near Darjeeling Himalayan Railway:
- (0.04 km) Hill Queen Stays
- (0.12 km) Zimba-la-dim SA
- (0.20 km) OYO 26157 Bloomfield
- (0.31 km) Odyssey's Hi De Stay
- (0.58 km) Arcadia Heritage Resort
- Restaurants near Darjeeling Himalayan Railway:
- (0.08 km) Coco Rio Cafe & Tea bar
- (0.61 km) Kushal Restaurant
- (0.65 km) Shree Krishna
- (2.92 km) Sonam's Kitchen
- (0.65 km) Ghale's Restaurant
- Attractions near Darjeeling Himalayan Railway:
- (0.31 km) Guru Sakya Monastery
- (0.65 km) Batasia Loop
- (0.84 km) Japanese Peace Pagoda
- (2.78 km) Ashmita Trek and Tours
- (3.01 km) Adventures Unlimited