The famous toy train service between Neral and Matheran, a popular hill station near Mumbai, is likely to begin soon, a Central Railway official said on Friday, adding that work on the 21km upgraded railway track is almost complete.

The service between Neral and Matheran was suspended in 2019 after heavy rains caused damage at 20 locations, leading to the tracks getting washed away in several areas.

“The track is almost complete and trials are on in the section. Central Railway is planning to re-start the Neral-Matheran train soon,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway, on Friday.

A popular hill station where vehicles are banned, Matheran sees thousands of visitors from Mumbai and Pune, especially during weekends. The toy train – currently, a shuttle service runs along the 2km stretch between Aman Lodge and Matheran – is a major attraction among tourists.

During this year’s monsoon, three major breaches occurred on the Neral-Matheran section – a breach of around 30 m occurred in one section – heavily damaging the track. Repairing the track was a challenging task as the construction of a retaining wall had to be carried out within 15 days, Central Railway officials said.

With no road available nearby for transporting the raw materials to the breach location, and the difficult terrain due to hills on one side and a valley on the other, the railways took it up as a challenge. Despite the rain and the limited light, workers employed in two shifts worked day and night, even during the rain, to complete the restoration work on time, officials added.

Two other breaches were strengthened by providing Gabion protection and a stepped PCC or plain cement concrete wall along the track, officials said.

Conversion of steel sleepers by PSC or pre-stressed concrete sleepers, fixing of check rails along the track, strengthening of embankments by providing retaining walls, Gabion protection of embankments, grouting of stone pitching beneath the track, provision of anti-crash barrier along the track and provision of side drains, box bridges and pipe bridges were also carried out, officials added.

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