SGNP to get battery-operated mini train

Mumbai: The mini train at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), which was damaged by cyclone Tauktae in May, 2021, will be replaced by a battery-operated train by 2024.

The forest department on Friday released ₹65 lakh for a detailed project report to be done in a month. The project will be taken up by the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) and the new train will arrive by March 2024.

G Mallikarjun, director, SGNP, said, “The mini train was one of the main attractions for the tourists. The tracks and stations were damaged by the cyclone and we had closed the services.”

The RITES will get one month to prepare the DPR and they will have to complete the works by March 2024. The battery-run mini train will cost between ₹30 and ₹35 crore.

Mallikarjun said that the current sleepers will be replaced with concrete ones and the two stations—Krishnanagari and Teen Murti—will be redeveloped or repaired.

The service was started in the 1970s and the train had a diesel engine removed from a mini truck. It had 20 to 25 seats and the track is around 2.4 km-long in the park’s entertainment zone. After starting from Krishnanagari station, the train would halt at the deer enclosure. Moreover, several environmentalists had suggested that the train must have a battery engine.

Meanwhile, the SGNP has also written to Sakkarbaug Zoological Park in Gujarat to send one more pair of lions.

In 2022, the state was left with a female lion. Two months back, the SGNP had received a pair of lions in exchange for a pair of tigers.