Salem Division of the Southern Railway has announced that the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) services, which remained suspended since April 21 due to COVID-19 pandemic, will be resumed as fully reserved daily special trains from Monday after over four months.
In a release on Friday, Salem Division said that one pair of fully reserved special trains will be operated between Mettupalayam and Udhagamandalam and three pairs of fully reserved special trains will be operated between Coonoor and Udhagamandalam from Monday. “The same fare structure which was in force in pre-COVID times (prior to suspension of services) will continue,” the release said.
Train No. 06136 will leave Mettupalayam Junction at 7.10 a.m. and arrive at Udhagamandalam at 11.55 a.m. with stoppages at Kallar, Hillgrove, Coonoor, Wellington, Aravankadu, Ketti and Lovedale Junctions. The three NMR trains from Coonoor – Train No. 06138, Train No. 06143 and Train No. 06141 – will depart from Coonoor at 4 p.m., 12.35 p.m. and 7.45 a.m. respectively and reach Udhagamandalam at 5.10 p.m., 1.45 p.m. and 9 a.m. respectively.
For the downward journey, Train No. 06137 will leave Udhagamandalam at 2 p.m. and reach Mettupalayam at 5.30 p.m. Train Nos. 06140, 06142 and 06139 will depart from Udhagamandalam at 5.30 p.m., 12.15 p.m. and 9.15 a.m. respectively and reach Coonoor at 6.35 p.m., 1.15 p.m. and 10.20 a.m. respectively, the release said.
Prior to this, the NMR train services were resumed on December 31, 2020 and were operated till April 20, this year. Only reserved passengers will be allowed to travel and all passengers must adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols, according to the release.
