3 Oct :The Phase-III of the ‘Science Express’ which was inaugurated by Chairman, Railway Board Shri S. S. Khurana on 2 October 2009 at Gandhinagar will travel to 55 locations, mostly not covered earlier, covering about 18,000 kms in seven months of its journey. It is covering the entire length and breadth of the country. At each of the locations, it would halt for 3-5 days, during which students and general public would visit the exhibition. The 55 locations will include Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Madgaon, Hubli, Bangalore Cantt. Mysore, Calicut, Thirvanthapuram, Salem Town, Balasur, Dimapur, Darbhanga, Chhapra, Amethi, Jammu Tawi, Kapurthala, Delhi Cantt, Agra Cantt, Jhansi and Ujain.
Indian railways have been providing active support since the beginning in making this ‘Science Express’ a reality & a huge success. The sparkling white fully air conditioned train with 16 coaches was custom made and specially fabricated at Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala. In the first two completed phases of the run, the train was successfully taken to 108 stations of the country. In the third phase, Indian Railways will be providing online maintenance and upkeep support during the entire itinerary for a smooth and trouble free run. The exhibition in various cities will be held in the station premises with an active support of local railway administration providing exhibition space, basic amenities and security etc.
After its flag off from New Delhi on 30 October 2007 by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and Chancellor of Germany, it has been showcased in 108 cities across india in two phases. The Exhibition, Which created four National records, received overwhelming response at all halts. Over 35 lakh people, mostly students, have enjoyed learning about cutting-edge research in science, explained through interesting audio visual exhibits and interactive tools.
The sparking white, fully air conditioned train has 16-coaches. The exhibition, with more than 300 large-format visual images, over 150 video clips and multimedia exhibits, deals extensively with cutting-edge research and technology. In the 12 exhibition coaches, most of exhibits have been developed by the max Planck Society, Germany noble laureate powerhouse while some exhibits are indigenous. Through these, the visitors explore wide areas in science in a fascinating manner and delve into the mysteries of our world, groundbreaking discoveries, emerging issues, cutting-edge science and future-oriented technologies. The exhibits explain our universe – how it all began, glimpses of space, black holes, galaxies, on the way to the Big Bang, our home in the cosmos, Spaceship Earth, simpler cold atoms, ultra short light, biotechnology, building blocks of life from ‘gene to organism’, the world of senses, architecture of the mind, renewable energy, technologies and energy sources for future, nanocosmos, bio-engineering, genetics, cell biology, computer applications in medicine and global challenges.
There is dedicated coach on ‘Climate Change – Cause, Effect and Mitigation’, sponsored by HSBC as an initiative of the ‘Earth Sciences Forum’. Exhibits on ‘Energy Conservation’ from PCRA and poster on ‘Nutrition’ from Nestle are the new attractions in this Phase.