After 20 years, toy train chugs again in Rakh Bagh

The new train runs is battery operated unlike the previous one which ran on diesel.
Written by Divya Goyal | Chandigarh | Updated: December 8, 2015 The battery-powered Toy Train in Ludhiana. (Gurmeet Singh)

After almost two decades, the toy train service in Rakh Bagh, Ludhiana resumed operations on Monday. It was earlier stopped due to complications in the colonial-era track gauge.

The Hero Group, which relaunched the project in collaboration with the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, has kept the price for two rounds at Rs 50; for the differently abled, the price is Rs 20. Ludhiana Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, during the inauguration of the service, said the ride would be made for the differently abled soon.


“Currently, the Hero Group has kept it to Rs 50 because there is a huge craze among residents to take the Toy Train ride. But there is a limit to the number of persons the train can accommodate even if it runs for 10 hours a day. So price will be adjusted in coming days as per demand,” Acting Municipal Corporation commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said.

“Kids of poor families cannot spend Rs 50 on a toy train ride. It should not be more than Rs 20 so that even poor families can enjoy this service,” said Kirandeep, a passenger.

The new train runs is battery operated unlike the previous one which ran on diesel.

Three coaches with capacity for 36 children were purchased, but on Monday only one coach was operational leaving many disappointed.

The civic body had been trying for at least a decade to repair the gauge track but was unsuccessful.

Then it was decided to replace the track with broader gauge and work be handed over to private company.