New Delhi: Twenty-three years after Delhi Metro started operations and quickly changed the way the capital used to commute, you will now get a chance to experience life in motion from a driver’s cabin.A museum opened by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) offers an immersive experience — a real-life simulator of the loco pilot’s workspace is the showpiece — to visitors curious about how the tunnels running through the entrails of the city were built or how the total operational network spanning 350km is meticulously monitored from its control centre.Spread across 12,000 square feet, the new facility at the Supreme Court station on Blue Line is designed in accordance with the finest metro museums worldwide. While inaugurating it on Wednesday in the presence of transport minister Pankaj Singh and Vikas Kumar, managing director of Delhi Metro, chief minister Rekha Gupta said the metro has played a significant role in reducing the number of private vehicles on the city’s roads and in strengthening pollution-control efforts. The museum features simulators that provide a real-world feel of driving a train, working models of a tunnel-boring machine and launching girder, and interactive digital displays where the visitors can play games and learn how the metro was constructed. Quiz screens, selfie points and souvenir shops add to the participative atmosphere, while static models and exhibits highlight various other aspects of the functioning of the transport system that clocks on average 7 million passenger journeys a day. A dedicated panel on ‘metro man’ E Sreedharan, a mock tunnel and a model of the operations control centre enrich the experience. Dioramas depicting Delhi’s landmarks, a photo gallery of visits by dignitaries and panels on major milestones in the metro’s history provide a comprehensive overview of the network’s evolution.“More than 50 panels, exhibits, kiosks and models have been installed, with the next phase of expansions set to introduce newer displays and innovations in the near future,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC.The museum traces its origins to 2008 when the idea of chronicling the journey of India’s most advanced urban transit system was first conceived. On Dec 31 that year, the country’s first-ever metro rail museum was inaugurated at Patel Chowk station, marking a historic milestone as the only such facility in the entire south Asia. “Presented as a New Year gift to people of the capital, the museum quickly became a popular destination for commuters and visitors. It also used to attract about 5,000 students from schools and colleges from across the world every year. With the opening of the new museum, the one at Patel Chowk has been closed,” said Dayal. This museum will be open to the public between 10am to 4pm, from today onwards. It will remain closed every Monday and on public holidays. The entry fee is just Rs 10 per person.
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