Indian Railways Set Up 'Digital Museums' At 22 Oldest And Important Stations Across Country

In a first, the Indian Railways has started developing 'Digital Museums' (DMs) across the country to showcase its rich heritages under a comprehensive policy.

The initiative has been framed to promote the concept of Digital Museums on Indian Railways.

Initially, these museums are planned to be established at 22 oldest and most significant railway stations in the country, including 11 in Uttar Pradesh alone. Recently, a dry-test of concept was done at Agra, Jaipur and Katihar Cantonment and Erode railway stations.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, responding to a query of a Lok Sabha MP a few days back, confirmed that the railways have the policy to develop the digital museums at important railway stations of India instead of setting up any new regional rail museums, The New Indian Express reported.

No New Regional Rail Museums

"Currently, there is no such proposal to establish new regional rail museums in India. But, the present policy is to develop only digital museum at essential railway stations subject to justification and feasibility on case to case basis," Vaishnaw said.

In a written reply, he further informed that 11 important railway stations in Uttar Pradesh have also been identified for providing digital museums.

Meanwhile, official railway sources said that 22 digital museums are initially planned to be set up at different big and oldest railway stations.

In Uttar Pradesh, the railways have decided to set up these museums at Agra Cant, Allahabad Chheoki, Etawaha, Gorakhpur, Kanpur Central, Lucknow junction, Mathura Junction, Prayagraj, Rae Bareli Junction, Varanasi and Vrindavan.

"Aim behind setting this initiative is to inform people about the rich heritage of Indian Railways through video-clips at the entrance on a big LED Screen through the multimedia system," a railway official told TNIE.

Soon, other prominent stations that are likely to have digital museums are the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminal, Chennai, Howrah, Kharagpur, New Delhi, etc. West Bengal's Howrah is one of the oldest railway stations opened in 1854.

The video clippings, prepared on the oldest rail lines, historical oldest railway bridges, the first, the biggest, the largest and the oldest railways stations, the heritages trains, the heritage locomotives, the rarest pictures and other archived materials, would be exhibited at each digital museum.

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