Matheran Light Railway

Matheran, discovered by Hugh Mallet, Collector of Thane district, in 1850, has since been a nature lovers’ delight. Matheran meaning ‘Jungle on Top’ is an undulating hilltop cloaked in shady trees, sprawling languidly at an altitude of 800 m. The journey involves an adventurous two-hour ascent in a narrow gauge train, with food vendors and monkeys jumping on and off as the valley glides by sedately.

Steam Train on Last Run

The railway construction started in 1904 and the two feet gauge line finally opened to traffic in 1907. Two steam locomotives built by Orenstein & Koppel (O&K), Germany with 0-6-0 T design and one Darjeeling class ‘A’ 0-4-0 ST engine were used. In 1955 three diesel locomotives were purchased. The rails used were 30 lb flat footed of steel on half round Burmese teakwood and other wooden sleepers fully ballasted with broken stone. These rails have been replaced by heavier 42 lb to a yard. The topography was selected to avoid tunnels except for a small one. In 2012, eight coaches with modern amenities and large look-out glasses on sides and on top have been inducted in service. These will enhance the quality of ride and will also enable passengers to experience the natural beauty of the area in a more intimate fashion.

Neral, the starting station of this line is 87 km on Mumbai-Pune route of Central Railway. The narrow gauge two feet line has three stations namely Jumapatti (5 km), Waterpipe (11 km), and Aman Lodge (18 km) ending at Matheran (21 km). The railway is 21 km long and has a gauge of only two feet with a ruling gradient of 1 in 20. 

October to May is the best time to visit Matheran. Temperatures vary from 16^oC in winter to 32^oC in summer, with an annual rainfall of 524 cm.  As a precautionary measure, the line used to be closed during the monsoons but one service runs to open timings. However, shuttle services which were introduced from 29.9.2012, to run even in monsoon. As a commemoration, a MLR loco no.741 has been installed on a pedestal at Matheran station.

Matheran-Aman Lodge Shuttle Service

Matheran has many "lookout points" that provide dramatic views of the Western Ghats and lush plains dotted with villages far below. These include Panorama Point (with the most spectacular views, it's a popular place to watch the sun rise), Monkey Point, Porcupine Point (popular for sunset view), Louisa Point, Echo Point, Rambagh Point, Alexander Point, Hart Point, Coronation Point, Chowk Point and the One Tree Hill.

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Punjab Mail - 102 Not Out

PUNJAB MAIL - 102 NOT OUT

Punjab Mail ready to leave Ballard Pier (Mole Station)

The origins of the Bombay to Peshawar Punjab Mail are rather unclear. Based on a Cost Estimate paper circa 1911 and a complaint by an irate passenger circa October 12, 1912 about the 'late arrival of the train by a few minutes at Delhi', it has been more or less inferred that the Punjab Mail made her maiden run out of Ballard Pier Mole station on 1 June 1912.  Punjab Mail is over 16 years older than the more glamorous Frontier Mail. Ballard Pier Mole station was actually a hub for Great Indian Peninsula Railway services. The Punjab Mail, or Punjab Limited as she was then called, finally steamed out on 1 June 1912.

To begin with, there were the P & O steamers bringing in the mail, and the Officers of the Raj, along with their wives, on their first posting in Colonial India. The steamer voyage between Southampton and Bombay lasted thirteen days. As the British officials held combined tickets both for their voyage to Bombay, as well as their inland journey by train to their place of posting, they would, after disembarking, simply board one of the trains bound for either Madras, Calcutta or Delhi.

Of the trains, the most prestigious was the Punjab Mail, or Punjab Limited as she was then called. The Punjab Limited used to run on fixed mail days from Bombay's Ballard Pier Mole station all the way to Peshawar, via the Great Indian Peninsula Railway route, covering the 2,496 km in about 47 hrs.

Punjab Mail in GIP Railway livery

The train comprised of six cars: three for passengers, and three for postal goods and mail. The three passenger carrying cars had a capacity of 96 passengers only. The sparkling cars were all corridor cars, and were made up of first class, dual berth compartments. Catering as they were to the upper class gentry, the cars were pretty well appointed, offering lavatories, bathrooms, a restaurant car, and a compartment for luggage and the servants of the white sahibs.

During the pre-partition period, the Punjab Limited was the fastest train in British India. The Punjab Limited's route ran over Great Indian Peninsula Railway for the large part, and passed through Itarsi, Agra, Delhi, Amritsar and Lahore, before terminating at Peshawar Contonement.

The train started originating and terminating at Bombay VT (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai ) from 1914. The train then loosely came to be known as the Punjab Mail, rather than Punjab Limited, and became a daily service.

From a service meant primarily for the upper class white sahibs, the Punjab Mail soon started catering to the lower classes too. Third class cars started appearing on the Punjab Mail by the mid 1930s.

In 1914, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway route from Bombay to Delhi was some 1,541 km which the train used to cover in 29 hrs 30 minutes.

In the early 1920s, this transit time was further reduced to 27 hrs 10 minutes, despite as many as eighteen intermediate stops.

In 1972, the transit time was again pushed up to 29 hrs
In 2011, the Punjab Mail has as many as 55 intermediate stops.

The Punjab Mail got an air conditioned car in 1945.

After electrification of the Thul Ghats, the train has been electric hauled from Bombay VT to Manmad, from whence WP class steam engines took over. The train was WP hauled from Manmad all the way till Ferozpur.

In 1968, the train was dieselised upto Jhansi, and its loading increased from 12 to 15 cars. Dieselisation was later extended from Jhansi till New Delhi, then by 1976 onward till Ferozpur. The number of cars was increased to 18, with two cars getting added on at Jhansi. 

In the late 1970/early1980s, WCAM/1 dual current locomotive was used to run the Punjab Mail on electric traction right upto Bhusaval, with the changeover from DC to AC traction at Igatpuri.

Present day Punjab Mail

The Punjab Mail takes 34 hrs. to cover the 1,930 km between Mumbai and Ferozpur Cantonment. The train is electric hauled. The restaurant car has been replaced by a pantry car.

It has one AC First Class cum AC-2 Tier, one AC-2 Tier, Five AC-3 Tier, 10 Sleeper Class, one pantry car, 3 general second class coaches and two general second class cum guard’s brake vans.
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