May 12, 2017
The Nilgiris Mountain Rail (NMR) services has been cancelled for one more day, as the railways were unable to clear the debris and trees from the track.
The services of toy train were cancelled from Mettupalayam and Coonoor from May 7, following land slide and falling of large number of trees on the track between Kallar and Hillgrove stations.
Efforts to restore the track failed, as more trees were found falling and the authorities have to cancel the services as precautionary measure on daily basis, railway sources said.
Being summer season and also holidays for students, there was high demand for the train, which originally travels from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam, the major tourist attraction in India.
The train with Heritage status from UNESCO, use rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient, which is another unique feature of the train and majority of the tourists wants to experience the nearly five hour journey.
Considering the safety of the passengers and also as a precaution, the authorities decided to suspend the services tomorrow also.