Kolkata hosts photo exhibition on Indian Railways

A young Rabindranath Tagore aboard a train, Mahatma Gandhi at a platform and other such rare photographs that tell the story of Indian Railways are part of an exhibit here to commemorate 160 years of the country's railway system.

Inaugurated Monday at the Academy of Fine Arts, an oeuvre of over 200 snaps depicting historic moments in the development of the railways - the lifeline of the country - will take one back in time to 1853 when the first train chugged into Thane from Mumbai (then Bombay) in Maharashtra.

"There are 210 photographs 1853 onwards that will be on display. Most important ones are those of Mahatma Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Tagore etc. that highlight their association with the railways," R.N. Mahapatra, chief public relations officer, Eastern Railways, told IANS.

Pieced through archives of Indian Railways, various zonal railways and the archives of the National Rail Museum, the exhibition contains selected photographs of the first express train, landmark buildings linked to railways like the Howrah station among others.

Also frozen in time are black and white snaps of Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.