Coonoor: A steam locomotive of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) developed a mechanical snag again midway through the journey on Monday and passengers were stranded on the wooded slopes for four hours. Demands are now growing stronger for operation of quality and efficient locomotives on the The four indigenous steam locomotives which haul the NMR train in the racked Mettupalayam- Coonoor sector of the NMR since 2011-12 were in the news in recent times for their poor haulage capacity. NMR route.
On Monday, for the 150-odd passengers on board the NMR train in the morning ascending trip from Mettupalayam, the journey turned out to be a nightmare as the train came to a halt near Hillgrove railway station at around 9 am. As a fault in a valve was detected, it was conveyed to the railway station in Coonoor, staff from there went down to Hillgrove and took time to repair the fault. Due to this, passengers were stranded for nearly four hours.
