Maharashtra`s popular Matheran Hill Railway is on track to get a further boost. After resuming full-fledged train services on the 21-km Neral-Matheran stretch last week, railways is focusing on developing state-of-the-art tourism-friendly stations on this UNESCO-listed tentative heritage mountain railway line.

The line has been restored after three years with a train that possesses a vistadome coach and has been receiving an overwhelming response from day one. The idea now is to develop the Neral-Matheran line into a major tourist attraction, and the mainline station at Neral from where regular trains are linked to the narrow-gauge hill railway is being developed as the first phase of the project.

“The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation is working on the improvement of Neral station at a cost of `60 crore. We are developing the station at two levels. The elevated deck will have connectors and walkways that will seamlessly link regular train passengers to the narrow-gauge station,” an MRVC spokesperson said. The improvement of the station involves the provision of new foot overbridges, an elevated deck, skywalks and green spaces, improving entry-exit points and the lux (unit of illuminance) level.