The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908, and was initially operated by the Madras Railway. The railway still relies on its fleet of steam locomotives. NMR comes under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Salem Division.
In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the site then became known as “Mountain Railways of India” after it satisfied the necessary criteria, thus forcing abandonment of the modernization plans.
For the past several years diesel locomotives have taken over from steam on the section between Coonoor and Udagamandalam. Local people and tourists have led a demand for steam locomotives to once again haul this section.
