India News | Replica of Vande Bharat to Replace Heritage Steam Loco at Rail Bhawan
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A heritage steam engine, which was installed on the premises of the Rail Bhavan in the national capital, was on Monday shifted to a museum here, and a replica of semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express will take its place, officials said.
New Delhi, Dec 6 (PTI) A heritage steam engine, which was installed on the premises of the Rail Bhavan in the national capital, was on Monday shifted to a museum here, and a replica of semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express will take its place, officials said.
The rail engine, manufactured in 1925 in Glasgow, belonged to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), a UNESCO world heritage, and was brought to Delhi, some years after Independence, according to railway experts.
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A spokesperson of the Indian Railways said the heritage locomotive in Rail Bhavan premises was removed in the early hour and shifted to the National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri, in order to "make it accessible" to the general public.
"Very few people could see it here at the Rail Bhavan because entry is restricted. At National Rail Museum, it will be accessible to more people. That was the idea behind the decision. It will be replaced by a replica that will represent the Vande Bharat train," the spokesperson said.
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The replica model will symbolically showcase Vande Bharat, India's first indigenously made train.
Sources, however, indicate that the move is a way to show the robust growth of the Indian Railways, by replacing a heritage locomotive with a modern, state-of-the-art coach, symbolising the railways' move towards next generation trainsets.
The Indian Railways began its journey in 1853.
The Vande Bharat Express - India's first semi-high speed train - had begun its first commercial run in February 2019.
The Shatabdi-type semi-high speed trains have amenities like onboard infotainment, GPS-based passenger information system, CCTV cameras, automatic sliding doors with retractable coach footsteps and zero discharge vacuum-based bio-toilets.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)