Daijiworld Media Network – Darjeeling

Darjeeling, Feb 12: In a historic first for the 145-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), Sarita Yolmo has become the first woman Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) to serve on the iconic toy train.

A veteran employee of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Yolmo conducted the toy train from New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to Darjeeling in her new role for the first time on February 5.

“I am proud to be the first woman TTE in a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway toy train in its history,” Yolmo told over the phone.

Confirming the development, DHR official Prateeksha Chhetri said Yolmo is currently serving as the first woman TTE in the heritage toy train service.

Expressing her emotions, Yolmo said she felt both thrilled and anxious when she was offered the opportunity to work on the UNESCO-recognised railway line. “I am from Darjeeling, but I had no prior experience working in the DHR,” she said, adding that she had previously travelled on the toy train only as a passenger.

She is presently the only woman TTE on the NJP-Darjeeling route — an approximately eight-hour journey one way, which can sometimes take longer due to operational delays along the hilly terrain.

Yolmo works on the daily NJP-Darjeeling service on a rotational basis. She conducts the morning train from NJP and returns the following day after an overnight halt in Darjeeling, popularly known as the ‘Queen of the Hills’.

TTEs assigned to the NJP-Darjeeling route are deputed by the Chief Travelling Ticket Inspector’s office at NJP, where Yolmo is currently posted.

“Though I had no prior experience of working as a TTE in trains, I gathered courage and took responsibility for the passengers as the first woman TTE in the toy train service,” she said. “I was a little anxious on my first journey, but I felt very good after completing the route and reaching Darjeeling,” she added.

Yolmo began her railway career in April 1991 in the printing press department at Kurseong under the NFR. After the railway press was shut down, she was transferred to the commercial department at NJP, where she served in enquiry, station checking and announcement sections.

A resident of Siliguri — often described as the gateway to the hills and the Northeast — Yolmo is a mother to a daughter who is pursuing her studies while working abroad.

Her husband is a retired DHR employee who served as an engineer at the Tindharia workshop before being posted to Siliguri.

With her appointment, Yolmo has etched her name into the history of the heritage railway, marking a significant milestone for women in Indian Railways.