This 15th August, Railways Will Launch Digital Museums At 22 Stations: 6 Facts You Should Know

The spirit of the 73rd Independence Day is already in the air, and Indian Railways is one excited participant in the festivities. The national transporter has chosen the golden day of independence to launch digital museums at as much as 22 railway stations.

The Indian Railways intends to have people know the rich heritage of the buildings, locomotives of Indian Railways and other such interesting artefacts through these digital museums on railway stations.

A Railway Ministry official from the Heritage Department has revealed all the details of these digital museums, read on to know all about this initiative by the Indian Railways!

Indian Railways To Launch 22 Digital Museums On Independence Day

About 22 stations will be endowed with these digital museums on the August 15th, such as Howrah, Sealdah, Lucknow, Varanasi, Raebareli, Sultanpur, Prayag, Ambala, New Delhi, Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Agra Cantonment, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, Jaipur, Erode, Coimbatore, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, and Bengaluru.

Such digital museums are already running on some railway stations of India including Jaipur, Agra Cantonment, Erode, Katihar and others. 

The Indian Railways initially planned to set up actual museums instead of digital ones on railway stations. However, this proposal was objected to by the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO cited reasons of unnecessary investment, which led the Railway Ministry to go for digital museums. 

The railway communication reportedly said, “There is no need to invest in and develop more railway museums. Digital museums can be created on the walls of the station depicting the history and current developments by use of appropriate technology.”

Digital Museum: Here Are All The Details

• The digital screens will be 5.1 metres long and their width will be different, falling in the range of 2.1 metres to 3.2 metres. 
• These screens will be at the entrance of the station and comfort zones. Screenings will be avoided at platforms so that unnecessary crowding and disasters, therefore, are avoided.
• These digital museums will be launched only at the railway stations where true colour digital multimedia screens are already present. 
• A ‘dry run’ of the whole project will take place on August 11-12. 
• The content that will be displayed on these screens will be in the form of short movie clips with a duration of one to two minutes.
• The short films will show “heritage buildings, heritage locomotives and many more which would make the people aware of the rich heritage that the Indian Railways carries with it.”