Thane railway station to get digital museum

The Thane railway station will be introduced with ‘Digital Museum’ soon by the Central Railway.

This digital museum will be introduced on the wall with digital screen displaying old pictures of the Thane station and depicting historical information regarding it.

However, as a historical sign, the Thane passengers association had demanded to place the oldest railway engine at the Thane railway station.

“The first Indian railway ran between Thane and Boribunder, in Mumbai, on 16 April, 1853. Hence, the station has now completed 165 years. So, the passenger associations had proposed to install the replica of the old steam engine at the Thane Station as the coming generation will learn about its history. However, the Railways didn’t accept the proposal. Instead, they have now announced to introduce a digital wall. We are not against the digital wall, but we also wanted the old steam engine to be placed at the Thane station,” said Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of Thane Railway Pravasi Sangh.

While the commuters welcome this new digital feature that is going to be added at the station premises. “It’s a good initiative and I hope it will prove to be informative for the coming generation,” said Vedant Prabhu, 35, a regular commuter from Thane to Dombivli.

“Though it’s a good initiative, it will prove to be successful and informative if it is properly maintained by the Railways,” said Kaustubh More, 30, a commuter from Thane.

Stating the fact that at present there is no such old structure at Thane station which could qualify for heritage status or the steam locomotives, the Ministry of Railways has directed Central Railway to introduce the ‘Digital Museum’ at this historical station.

“The exact location and size of the digital wall is not yet finalised. This digital wall or museum will focus on the old pictures of the station, steam locomotives and other historical information related to Indian Railways and stations,” said A K Jain, senior public relation officer, Central Railway, Mumbai.

With Thane station, other stations like CSMT, Lonavala, Pune and Daund will also be introduced with the similar digital walls by Central Railway as per the directions of Ministry of Railways, added A K Jain.