All aboard the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - in pictures

The narrow-gauge railway runs from 100-metres above sea level at New Jalpaijuri to 2,200m in Darjeeling

A Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam train passes by a market in Ghum, India. All photos by Reuters

Vendors sell candy floss to passengers as Darjeeling Himalayan Railway trains arrive at a station in Ghum.

A Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam train prepares to leave Batasia Loop.

Train driver Hari Chettri sits in the engine of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam train as it leaves Batasia Loop.

A Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train passes by Dali monastery in Darjeeling.

A worker breaks coal for a steam engine belonging to Darjeeling Himalayan Railway at a station in Darjeeling.

Workers repair a steam engine belonging to Darjeeling Himalayan Railway at a workshop in Darjeeling.

Passengers stand next to a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam train as it halts briefly at Batasia Loop.

Passengers sit inside a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam train at a station in Darjeeling.

School children walk past a parked Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train at a station in Darjeeling.

People cross the narrow-gauge tracks as a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train prepares to depart from a station in Ghum.

An engine belonging to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway leaves a station in Darjeeling.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway trains are seen at a station in Darjeeling.

A man climbs down a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train at a station in Darjeeling.

A boy looks out of a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway train in Darjeeling.

Situated between the foot of the Himalayas and the northern extreme of Bangladesh lies the starting terminal of India's highest railway - the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Built between 1879 and 1881, the narrow-gauge line runs from 100-metres above sea level at New Jalpaijuri to 2,200m in Darjeeling.

To get from one end of the 88-kilometre line to the other, the steam engines negotiate the steep climbs by either zig-zagging or looping.

It serves tourists and schoolchildren alike and earned a Unesco World Heritage site status in 1999.

Check out some of the sights on the railway line in the gallery above.