Mumbai’s very own little toy station of Matheran seems to continue attracting tourists. The Central Railway’s Matheran – Aman Lodge Shuttle Services have ferried more than 78577 passengers during April-May this year and generated revenue of Rs 54.59 lakhs. This comes at a time when trials are underway for operating electric auto rickshaws on this hill station but not within the precincts of Matheran town. In fact the local authorities of Matheran also called a tender for running e-auto rickshaws.
For Mumbaikars, Matheran is the nearest and the most popular tourist destination for the citizens of Mumbai. The Central Railway with its shuttle services for passengers between Aman Lodge and Matheran has been instrumental in popularizing this place as a major tourist destination. According to CR officials, these toy trains also transported 9115 packages during these two months as compared to 2931 packages transported during the corresponding period in 2021.
In addition to providing a comfortable journey to tourists, these services help in cheap and quick transportation of materials also. This generated passenger revenue of Rs 53.8 lakh and parcel revenue of Rs 74,117 compared to Rs 2.94 lakh revenue which includes Rs 2.70 lakhs from passengers and Rs 24475/- from parcel during the same period last year.
“These figures indicate the important role of Railways in providing a safe and comfortable travel to its passengers coming to this tourist destination. We are popularizing this place not only as a major tourist destination but also as a place which takes one close to nature,” said Shivaji Sutar, Chief PRO, Central Railway.
The toy trains provides the thrill of watching nature closely along with a memorable ride in the Toy train thus immersing oneself in the serenity of the natural environment of Matheran. The Central Railway has ferried 3,06,763 passengers and transported 42,613 packages during the year 2021-22 with a total of 20 services between Aman Lodge and Matheran.
In addition to providing a comfortable journey to tourists, these services help in cheap and quick transportation of materials also. This has resulted in fetching the revenue of Rs.1.82 crore during the period from April 2021 to March 2022. This includes passenger earnings of Rs.1.78 crore and parcel earnings of Rs.3.29 lakh.
