MATHERAN – AN ECOLOGICAL SENSITIVE HILLSTATION IN INDIA WITH POOR ROAD-INFRASTRUCTURE; TRANSPORT-SCHEMES, Part IV By Dr. F. A. Wingler, August 2019

Matheran, a hillstation in India, Maharashtra, is the only location in India, where no tar roads and no motorized vehicles are allowed. The only road access from Neral with a height of 39.31 m above sea level ends at a height of 758 m 2 km outside the town Matheran at DASTURI. All goods and delivery products have to be transhipped from arriving lorries and good carriers on coolie load carriers, hand pulled carts or pack horses and carried over an unfortified, dilapidated stony cart road, which turns in rainy season into a slurry or mud way to Matheran Market at a height of 804 m above sea level. The supply route Dasturi-Matheran is the life artery of Matheran. Visitors walk on the last miles, ride on a horse, use a hand pulled rickshaw or travel on a 2 ft Narrow Gauge Baby Shuttle-Train. The Shuttle train operates with two Diesel Locos in push-pull-mode and produce a lot of smoky combustion emission. This rail service is highly vulnerable by heavy monsoon.

Amritsar in Punjab is planning to install between the railway station and the Golden Temple a shuttle service for visitors with an ecological friendly automated Pod-Car People Mover (APM). The author proposes for the last miles connectivity at Matheran a similar eco-friendly and monsoon proof electric operated Pod Car shuttle service for passengers as well for delivery goods/freight. To read more, download :