The Hindu : New Delhi News : Museum to showcase Delhi Metro

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 06, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Museum to showcase Delhi Metro

Staff Reporter

The site is being finalised; likely to be ready by this year-end

Apart from photos, details on metro rails it will have specially created prototypes of metro trains
It will also shed light on the life of the faceless metro workers who work till late every night

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation wants to document its past and present for the future. Together with landmark details – “when exactly the metro first rolled out” to “when the first employee was taken on” — DMRC wants to weave a comprehensive story of its existence and showcase it in a museum.

The company right now is engaged in culling out details about the metro railway and how it has changed the lives of people in the Capital. Faced with a high attrition rate among employees, the company has stepped up efforts to collate maximum possible information about the design, planning and various other aspects of the operations.

“There is a transport museum in London and a museum in New York. It is time Delhi had its own metro museum because it has not just achieved a milestone, it has become a landmark in the city,” says DMRC Chief Public Relations Officer Anuj Dayal.

The DMRC is currently finalising the site for the museum that is likely to be ready by this year-end. “We had sought some land for the museum close to the upcoming Metro Bhavan near Connaught Place, but since we have not been given any space yet we are now thinking of opening it at Shashtri Park,” says Mr. Dayal.

Apart from photographs and details about the various aspects of the metro, the museum will have specially created prototypes of the metro trains. “These models are being manufactured by the makers of the metro trains. They will be identical to the real trains, but much smaller in size,” Mr. Dayal explains.

The museum will also shed light on the life of the faceless metro workers who continue to work well into the night. “There is so much that goes on at depots and construction sites at all hours of the day. The museum will allow us to showcase these behind-the-scene activities that most people are unaware of,” he says.

Newspaper reports about the metro that will be displayed at the museum will not only serve as a compendium of information but also provide assistance to students of public relations and journalism, adds Mr. Dayal: “The museum will have information about the company, how it was formed, the key dates, when the first metro line was commissioned, and when it first rolled out. We will have all the necessary inputs on the train operations and security and how the DMRC has made a foray into feeder buses to enhance its services.”

The museum, which will initially be started on a modest scale, will gradually include audio and video aids to narrate the metro’s story.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi