Which railway is famous for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway’s UNESCO-listed “Toy Train” route in India?

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is the Indian railway famous for its UNESCO-listed “Toy Train” route.

The narrow-gauge line opened between Siliguri and Darjeeling in stages from 1879 to 1881. It climbs from the plains into the Himalayan foothills using loops, reverses and steeply graded track rather than a conventional rack railway.

Its best-known engineering feature is the Batasia Loop, where the railway makes a broad spiral to gain height near Darjeeling. The route was designed to connect Darjeeling with the wider transport network while preserving access through difficult mountain terrain.

The railway was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999. It is one of India’s Mountain Railways, alongside the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and Kalka–Shimla Railway.