Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways
02-January-2019 18:12 IST
Heritage Preservation in Indian Railways
Ministry of Railways has initiated several measures to promote heritage preservation in the Railways. These include revival of Steam Locomotives, up-keeping Hill Railways, special delegation of powers to Divisions for promoting Hill and Steam tourism, strengthening Railway museums, conservation of built heritage, digitization of Railway Heritage and bringing it online for universal access etc.
Drives are launched, from time to time, by Zonal Railways/Production Units for identification and preservation of Railway heritage assets like buildings, bridges, rolling stocks, documents, photographs, artefacts, equipment, clocks, benches etc. The last such drive was launched in 2018 on a Pan-Indian Railways basis.
Ministry of Railways has made a specific provision in the budget outlay for 2018-19 for revival of steam locomotives including restoration and procurement of spares. During current financial year, a weekly regular time tabled train on steam traction is being operated between Garhi Harsaru and Farukhnagar.
Maintenance of five hill railways of India [Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR), Kalka Shimla Railway (KSR), Matheran Light Railway(MLR) and Kangra Valley Railway (KVR)] are undertaken as per extant codal provision of Indian Railways and UNESCO Guidelines. In addition, special delegation of powers has been accorded to concerned Divisional Railway Managers for promoting tourism in these five hill railways.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Railways, Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
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