Foot of the Blue Mountains
Mettupalayam (code MTP) lies at the base of the Nilgiris, the Blue Mountains, in Coimbatore district. It is where travellers leave the broad-gauge network and board the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, whose metre-gauge trains climb to Coonoor and Ooty. Trains use 3 side platforms, with 3 electrified broad-gauge tracks and 1 metre-gauge track, and belongs to Southern Railway's Salem division.
150 years of trains
The broad-gauge branch from Coimbatore reached Mettupalayam in 1873, and the station recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. The mountain line followed:
- June 1899: the line opens from Mettupalayam to Coonoor.
- 15 October 1908: it is extended to Udhagamandalam (Ooty).
- July 2005: UNESCO adds the Nilgiri Mountain Railway to the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site.
- 2019: Mettupalayam station receives ISO 14001 environmental certification.
India's only rack railway
The Nilgiri line is the only rack railway in India. On its steepest stretch, between Kallar and Coonoor, the gradient reaches 1 in 12 (8.33%), far too steep for ordinary wheels. There, locomotives engage an Abt rack-and-pinion system: a toothed rail between the running rails that their cog wheels grip. Vintage X-class steam rack locomotives still work this section.
| Nilgiri Mountain Railway | Figure |
|---|---|
| Length | 46 km |
| Gauge | Metre (1,000 mm) |
| Curves | About 209 |
| Tunnels | 16 |
| Bridges | 250 |
| Uphill journey | About 290 minutes |
| Downhill journey | About 215 minutes |
The Blue Mountain connection
From Chennai, the overnight Nilgiri Express, also called the Blue Mountain Express, runs to Mettupalayam, and the morning mountain train is timed to leave after it arrives. Explore more mountain lines on our heritage trains page.
Tips for the toy train
- Seats on the mountain train are limited and sell out early in holiday seasons; check our train schedule page and book ahead.
- For the best views on the way up, the ghat section after Kallar is the highlight.