In an era when high-speed trains dominate travel headlines, a charming relic from another age continues to rumble steadily through the mist-covered hills of the south, at a speed slower than most city cyclists. Covering barely 9 kilometres in an hour, the Mettupalayam-Ooty Nilgiri Passenger is the country’s slowest train. Yet, its unhurried pace is precisely what draws thousands of tourists every year.

First proposed in 1854, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) took nearly five decades to materialise, battling unforgiving terrain and engineering challenges. Construction finally began in 1891, and by 1908, the single-track metre-gauge line was ready, a triumph of persistence carved into the blue mountains of Tamil Nadu.

Recognised as part of UNESCO’s Mountain Railways of India heritage ens

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