National Rail Museum, Railway museum in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, India
The National Rail Museum is a railway museum in Chanakyapuri, a neighborhood of New Delhi in India, covering an area of roughly 11 acres. The exhibition space displays more than 100 locomotives, carriages, and technical objects both in indoor galleries and across open grounds.
The institution opened in 1977 as the first of its kind in India, gathering vehicles and technical equipment from the colonial era. It preserved steam locomotives and carriages that would otherwise have disappeared after the modernization of rail transport.
The restaurant The Rails sits inside a replica of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus dome, and a steam locomotive chugs between tables named after historic stations. It recalls the Maharaja of Gwalior's silver model train, which ran along the banquet table serving royal guests. Saloons built for the Prince of Wales and the Maharajas of Indore and Mysore show how princes travelled.
The museum is open every day except Mondays and national holidays. The indoor galleries sit in an octagonal building, while the rest of the roughly 11-acre site is laid out as an open railway yard, so allow time to walk between the two. A narrow-gauge train circles the grounds.
Some locomotives stand on tracks that visitors can walk around, allowing a close look at technical details. The grounds also offer short rides on a narrow-gauge railway that runs through the outdoor sections.
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