'Delhi Metro' exhibition from January 1

NEW DELHI: Do you know that Chawri Bazar is the deepest station of Delhi Metro and second deepest in the world?

One can get to know more about many of these interesting facts related to one of the world's largest metro system at the 'Delhi Metro' exhibition, which is to be opened for public on January 1, at the Patel Chowk station in New Delhi.

The museum traces the genesis of the Delhi Metro which took 32 years to reach the operational stage from the drawing boards and displays historical photographs and the events of importance related to the system.

"The museum has an extensive section on the construction of the Metro and the problems encountered during the process, including the story behind the construction of technological marvels such as the Chawri Bazar station," DMRC chief public relations officer Anuj Dayal told reporters during a media preview.

Chawri Bazar station is the second deepest Metro system in the world with a total depth of 25 m with the underground platform 21 m deep. It is also the only station in the entire Metro system that is built inside a tunnel.

Aamir, a student from the US' Warton School of Management, who is on visit to India to study about the Delhi Metro, said "I am jealous of Delhi Metro. Even New York Metro doesn't have this kind of a system. I hope one day we will be able to get this kind of a system."

Shaloni, a 10-year-old girl and daughter of a metro officer, will be the mascot of the Delhi Metro.

Metro museums can be found only in a few European, US and Japanese cities, but the one at Delhi Metro was set up in a short duration of two months.

"We thought it is the time for us to preserve the history of Delhi Metro. Though DMRC is not so old, still we need to preserve history. This is the first Metro Museum worldwide in an operational metro station. We would like to expand it," Dayal, who is also the director of the museum, said.

An exact replica of the metro train which was designed in Korea, a "tooth" taken from a tunnel boring machine, soil samples collected from around the city and helmets of different colours used at construction sites also form part of the museum.

The technological features of the Metro System such as the automatic train control system, automatic fare collection system, round-the-clock activities of various departments, features friendly for the physically challenged are described in the Museum.

The Museum also has two touch screen computers that play the DMRC corporate movie and animations describing the way tunnel boring machines and launching girders used in elevated construction work.

It also has an account of the first day of Metro's operation when about 1.2 million people queued up for a ride at six stations.

Those who get a ticket to travel on the metro will be able to view the exhibition.