The Ministry of Railways has partnered with search engine giant Google to provide users with a virtual tour of the Indian Railways. The project called 'The Railways — Lifeline of a Nation' has gone live on the Google Arts And Culture website and app and is a pandora box of the cultural heritage attached to India's rail infrastructure. From personal stories, to rail staff, to scenic routes and much more. The website also takes users on a virtual tour of some of the finest landmarks and railway stations. Google & Ministry of Railways Join Hands to Showcase Indian Railway's History on Google Arts & Culture.

The Google Arts & Culture online collection is a hub for digital storytelling. With this partnership, it is making Indian Railways' heritage digitally accessible to people, not only in India but also across the world. With more than 160 years of history, the Indian Railways has over 1,51,000 kilometre of track, 7,000 stations and 1.3 million employees. Check out the project here.

Journeys

The Google-Indian Railways project takes you through some of the most beautiful train journeys across the country. From the Nilgiris to Goa and Delhi, the project features texts and photos of the railway tracks that are enchanting. Free WiFi at 400 Indian Railway Stations by Google: Users Consume 350 MB of Data Per Session.

People

The project features stories of everyday heroes of the Indian Railways. These are people who make life better on tracks. These stories include those of ticket checkers, engineers, the women of railways, the track men and more. you would love to know the stories of those including multi-lingual TC Ms Valli, who sings to entertain passengers.

Heritage

The project takes you through the several aspects of the history of Indian Railways on the Google Arts And Culture site. It takes you on a pre-independence as well as a present-day tour of railway colonies. It also looks at some of the most iconic scenes in Bollywood that were shot on trains. You can also go on a virtual tour of Mumbai's iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminal Railway Station.

Engineering

The project gives you the inside story of what goes into running a train. It looks at some of the most popular marvels in the Indian Railways including the Fairy Queen, the Kalka-Shimla mini-train, the Matheran toy train and gives you a tour of the National Rail Museum.

Amit Sood, Director, Google Cultural Institute, said, "This initiative is all about the iconic moments, the heritage, and the making of Indian Railways, which today is the backbone of the country in many ways. It’s an honour to partner with the Ministry of Railways and more institutions to bring India and the world closer to the rich legacy of Indian railways.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2018 01:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).