Title - Vadodara zoo toy train service to be suspended from February 14

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation will suspend the toy train service at the Sayajibaug zoo from February 14 as it prepares to launch a bigger toy train on the same track under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The service will be suspended for around six months during the track will be upgraded and new train brought in, deputy municipal commissioner R K Sugoor told reporters Monday. "The new train will have four bogies and will accommodate 120 to 140 children. We expect the new train to start offering service before Diwali," he said.

The project, being implemented on the PPP model, is expected to cost Rs 5-8 crore. The price of the ticket will be decided by the private company and the corporation, Sugoor said.

Children below 12-years of age are allowed to take a nearly 3.5-km joy ride on the toy train that runs along the zoo enclosures and attracts a lot of visitors. The train was set up by the royal Gaekwad dynasty.

Suroor said the old train would be shifted to a proposed new zoo at Ajwa. "We will use the old train for exhibition purpose," he said.