Fact 🧞‍♂️

SpotGenie Fact, India’s Slowest Train: The Nilgiri Mountain Railway’s Mettupalayam–Ooty Toy Train

The slowest train in India is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway’s uphill Mettupalayam–Ooty service, traveling at just 10–12 km/h through misty hills on a UNESCO heritage track.

Pratik Kamble

11 Nov 2025 — 2 min read

SpotGenie Fact, India’s Slowest Train: The Nilgiri Mountain Railway’s Mettupalayam–Ooty Toy Train

🚂🐢 A train so slow… you can sometimes walk faster beside it!

Most people know India’s fastest trains.
But only a few know India’s slowest train, a beautiful blue toy train that climbs the Nilgiris one gentle click at a time.

Welcome to the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), where the uphill Mettupalayam → Udagamandalam (Ooty) service runs at an average speed of just 10–12 km/h, making it the slowest regular train in India.

But slow doesn’t mean boring.
On this route, slow is magic.

🚂 Curious Fact

The NMR train uses a unique rack-and-pinion system to climb impossibly steep slopes, the only such system still operational in India.
This engineering marvel from 1908 climbs from 330 m to over 2,200 m altitude in just 46 km… and that gradient is why it moves so slowly.

At some points, the train crawls at 8 km/h, slower than a cyclist, sometimes even slower than a brisk walker!

But the payoff?
Unreal scenery, forest tunnels, waterfalls, cliffs, and tea gardens that feel straight out of a postcard.

🧭 Key Facts

Train: Mettupalayam → Udagamandalam (Ooty) NMR Passenger
Average Speed (Uphill): ~10–12 km/h
Lowest Recorded Sectional Speed: ~8 km/h
Gauge: Meter Gauge (1000 mm) with rack-and-pinion system
Route Length: 46 km
Gradient: Up to 1 in 12.5, steepest in India
First Operation: 1908
UNESCO Status: Part of Mountain Railways of India (World Heritage Site)s
Operator: Southern Railway
Locomotive: X-class steam loco (one of the last in India)

Validated via: Indian Railways, Southern Railway releases, UNESCO Mountain Railways dossier, IRFCA, The Hindu archives.

🌟 Why It’s So Unique

India’s slowest train is slow for a reason, the climb is so steep that only a special toothed “rack rail” can grip the locomotive upward.
It’s an engineering rarity, a heritage treasure, and a bucket-list experience for rail fans across the world.

The NMR is one of the only three operational rack railways in Asia.

🔍 Fun Trivia

The NMR appears in multiple films including Dil Se and Golmaal 4.
Its X-class steam locomotives are still hand-built and repaired in Coonoor, nowhere else on Earth.
The returning downhill ride is slightly faster (~15 km/h)… but still slow compared to any other train in India.

🧞‍♂️ SpotGenie Angle

Just like the NMR takes its time but always delivers safely,
SpotGenie ensures fast, reliable, smart contact for every vehicle.
Parking issue? Emergency? Wrong blocking?
One scan. One WhatsApp. Zero hassle.

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