The two-foot gauge railway, known as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, is arguably India’s most outstanding example of a hill passenger railway. Originally designed to open up access to the hills for the British in the summer, it became the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Company in 1881 and achieved UNESCO status in 1999. The whole journey of 82km from New Jalpaiguri is scheduled to take around 8 hours; it’s slow as the train makes its way up gradients of up to 1 in 19. Luckily it is possible to take a shorter journey between local stations, for example Ghoom and Darjeeling, during which you can still enjoy the romance of the train and stunning views of the surrounding area. For this shorter journey, the DHR are still operating the steam locomotives with comfortable first class carriages. The ticket also allows you entry to the Railway Museum in Ghoom.