Nilgiri Mountain Railway resumes train operations between Mettupalayam and Ooty

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) finally restarted their passenger operations between Mettupalayam and Ooty on December 28, 2020 ever since temporary suspension of services in March 2020.

According to the TOI, the steam engine-driven train having four compartments and a total of 180 seats reached Ooty by 12:30 PM. The train was packed to full capacity during its post-lockdown run. Reportedly, prior to the regular passenger services of the NMR were introduced, charter services by a private firm were in progress since the first week of December. However, this invited a lot of flak from everywhere.
News has it that the train had 180 passengers on board on the first day of operation.
The Railway Minister had recently tweeted to announce to the resumption of NMR. He wrote that the UNESCO world heritage site will restart operations from December 31.
K Natarajan, managing trustee, Heritage Steam Chariot Trust, told the TOI that tourists were waiting for the resumption of NMR train operations after the e-pass was relaxed to the hill district.
NMR runs on the highest and longest meter gauge in Asia. It courses through beautiful valleys and breathtaking beautiful mountains.