page_title: Northeast Frontier Railway zone
section_title: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Northeast Frontier Railway zone / Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: Kaziranga Express (SBC-Guwahati) with WAP-4 HWH shed loco at Khalor, West Bengal
context_page_description: The Northeast Frontier Railway, is one of the 18 railway zones in India. Headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, it is responsible for rail operations in the entire Northeast and parts of West Bengal and Bihar.
context_section_description: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is maintained and governed under the responsibility of Katihar division. It ascends 6,850 feet (2,090 m) from New Jalpaiguri (Siliguri); the climb begins at Sukna, continues uninterruptedly to Ghum (7,407 ft or 2,258 m) and descends the final 5 miles (8.0 km) to Darjeeling. After independence, India's partition resulted in the isolation of the Northeast region. Consequently, the DHR was merged into Assam Railways, it was closed for the construction of the Assam–Bengal link line and one of its extension lines to Kishanganj was converted to metre gauge. DHR's other extension line to Kalimpong was washed away due to floods. On reopening, the DHR was merged with North Eastern Railway in 1952 and later into Northeast Frontier Railway in 1958.
  The DHR achieved worldwide fame for many reasons such as:
  A gateway to the Himalayas
  The tiny four-wheeled steam locomotives of the 19th century
  The curves, loops, "Z"s and steep grades crisscrossing the road
  An interest in DHR all along has ensured that it continues to operate notwithstanding very heavy losses. The steam locomotive is an icon of this Railway. Tindharia workshop has kept 13 locomotives surviving, some of which are over 100 years old and the youngest is about 70 years old.
  Timeline of DHR:
  20 January 1948: Purchased by the Government of India
  26 January 1948: Transferred to Assam Rail Link
  26 January 1950: Transferred to Assam Railway
  14 January 1952: Transferred to North Eastern Railway
  15 January 1958: Transferred to Northeast Frontier Railway
caption: Kaziranga Express
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