Collectibles: Souvenir shop opens, artefacts on sale at New Delhi rly station

Waiting at the New Delhi railway station will not be boring any more. Passengers can now buy souvenirs at the station after the Delhi Division of the Northern Railway on Monday commissioned the first flagship store for rail souvenirs on Platform 1.

The unique souvenir shop will have replicas of Indian Railways' century-old station master pocket watches, station wall clocks, scale models of historic steam engines and 150 other artefacts.

Illustrating the history of Indian Railways, the store features legacy models of steam locomotives such as the Fairy Queen, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway; the Kalka- Shimla railway, along with diesel locomotives and models of coaches.

Other souvenirs available at the store include Railways ties, books and diaries on heritage steam locomotives.

"This is first such museum shop at the railway station. It has been designed in an innovative manner in a distinct British architectural design with slanting roof and red brick walls to refresh the memories of British era. Based on the response of the flagship store, more such souvenirs would be opened at other stations," National Rail Museum Director Uday Singh Meena said.

There will be two ornamental lamps — green and red — at the entrance. A glowing green lamp will signal that the store is open, while red lamp will be switched on after the store is closed.

To boost sales, the museum has been provided with a separate purchase window.

"People can directly purchase the souvenirs of their choice from the shop window, without entering the railway station premises," the official said. The museum will be open for the public from 6 am to 10 pm every day. The artefacts have been priced from Rs 20 to Rs 5,000.

According to Railways estimates, the store registered sales of Rs 1,000 an hour after it was opened. Due to the good response, authorities are planning to link the souvenir store to the newly opened executive lounge at the New Delhi railway station.

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