By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Jan 15: The Meghalaya government will explore the idea of introducing a toy train in the state.
Disclosing this, Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh told The Shillong Times on Monday that everything depends on feasibility. He said no feasibility exercise has been carried out. “The more important thing is that the Shillong Ropeway project is finally taking off. It will be a great leap to take Meghalaya tourism forward,” he said.
He said the government will conduct a cost-benefit analysis and feasibility exercise on the toy train idea.
The introduction of toy trains is expected to boost the state’s tourism sector further. However, it all depends on the stand of the pressure groups. While a majority of the ministers favour the introduction of railways, the pressure groups stand opposed to it due to fear over the possible influx of illegal immigrants. They want the government to first put in place a mechanism to check influx before introducing railways.
Recently, an official of the Northeast Frontier Railway had stated that it would be wonderful if toy trains are introduced in Meghalaya.
The official also said that laying a track for toy trains till Shillong would be feasible as the city is situated at a much lower elevation of 1,525 meters. Darjeeling, the only hill station in the region to have toy trains, is located at an elevation of 2,045 metres.
Arunachal government is said to be considering introducing a toy train till the picturesque India-China border town of Tawang.
