Nilgiri Mountain Railway, NMR., has the steepest track in Asia. The British built this railway line in the early part of the last century. Nilgiri Mountain Railway is the railway system between Mettupalayam  (near Coimbatore in Tamilnadu, India) and the nearby hill station of Ooty (known officially as Udhagamandalam) hill station.

Nilgiri Mountain Train

The track is 1000 mm wide and different from the railway line’s meter gauge and broad gauge system. Nilgiri Mountain Railway is called “Mountain Railways of India,” along with Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway NMR  is declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Being a heritage site, stations on this route use manual tickets, even though computerized tickets are issued through the Indian railway’s ticket booking website, irctc.co.in. It is advisable to book tickets for this train in advance, as this train is crowded during season time and on weekends. The train starts at 07:10 am from Mettupalayam (to Udagamandalam alias Ooty), and the return journey starts at 15:00 hours ( 3 pm) from Otty to Mettupalayam.

If you have not booked the ticket, you must go to the Mettupalayam railway station near the Mettupalayam bus stand in the morning. 80-second class tickets are issued daily at this station. People stand in the queue from 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. onwards. At around 6 a.m., tokens are given to those in the queue. Then, tickets are issued to those holding tokens.

The narrow gauge line between Mettupalayam station and Coonoor railway stations uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient unique to the mountain railways.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway NMR train covers a distance of  41.8 kilometers through 16 tunnels, 208 curves, and 250 bridges.

The uphill journey from Mettupalayam to Ooty takes around 290 minutes. The return journey from Ooty to Mettupalayam takes only 215 minutes.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway Fares

The second-class sitting fare for an adult from Mettupalayam to Udagamandalam alias Ooty is INR 145, and the first-class fare is INR 470  (including reservation charges). (Revised charges from October 2018 or so. It was 30 and 205 earlier. )

For children aged 5 to 11 years, the fare is the same as that of adults. Children below five years do not need to buy tickets for train journeys in India.

Fare is the same for the return journey also.

You may book tickets online at irctc.co.in. The railway station code for METUPALAIYAM is MTP, and the railway station code for Ooty or UDAGAMANDALAM is UAM. Tatkal booking is also allowed.

Ban of Selfies in front of the Heritage Train and the Route

There seems to be a ban on taking a selfie standing in front of the moving train on the train route from Mettupalayam to Udagamandalam alias Ooty. You may still take photos. Selfies are causing a lot of accidents. The decision to ban selfies is to prevent such accidents. There is a penalty of Indian rupees 2000 (Two thousand) for anyone taking selfies on this route. Those who try to cross the track when the train is nearing the station will be fined 1000 rupees.

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