The Neral-Matheran railway’s Neral-Aman Lodge section will remain closed to regular passenger services until October 15, 2026, because of monsoon safety concerns and the risk of heavy rain, while trains will continue operating between Aman Lodge and Matheran.
The service arrangement affects the lower section of the 21-km narrow-gauge route linking Neral at the foot of the Sahyadri hills with the hill station of Matheran. According to the report, trains on the Aman Lodge-Matheran section will operate during the monsoon according to the prescribed timetable.
The services will use a six-coach rake comprising three second-class coaches, one first-class coach and two SLR/LR coaches. The report does not specify whether the suspension will be extended beyond October 15 or identify any additional engineering work planned during the closure.
The seasonal disruption comes on a railway route whose construction began in 1904 after Mumbai businessman Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy invested about Rs 16 lakh in the project. The line was designed as a two-foot narrow-gauge railway and was built across steep terrain without aerial surveys or modern construction machinery.
Workers cut through the hills by hand to create the gradient, and construction was completed in three years. The line opened for traffic in 1907, after Peerbhoy had proposed the railway to the Secretary of State in India in 1901. His son Abdul Hussain was involved in planning and overseeing the project.
The railway was intended to make Matheran more accessible to Indian travellers, many of whom had earlier depended on difficult modes of reaching the hill station, including palanquins. Peerbhoy later built inns and hotels to encourage visitors to stay in Matheran, and the report states that he eventually established 105 inns and hotels. He also helped establish a community cemetery and supported the setting up of the local civic council.
Four narrow-gauge steam engines were purchased from German manufacturer Orenstein & Koppel. Numbered 738, 739, 740 and 741, they operated on the line from 1907 until 1982. Two are preserved at Neral and Matheran, while another is held at the National Railway Museum in Delhi and the fourth is in the United Kingdom.
The route has faced earlier interruptions because of derailments and damage during heavy rains. It has continued to operate in sections as a heritage railway, with Matheran also retaining restrictions on motor vehicles beyond the designated entry point.
For the 2026 monsoon period, passenger services will therefore remain available only between Aman Lodge and Matheran until the stated October 15 date. The railway’s next operational milestone is the scheduled resumption of the Neral-Aman Lodge service after the monsoon suspension.
