Railway's first printing press heritage gallery opened

The Western Railway (WR) has thrown open to public the first printing press heritage gallery of the Indian Railways at Mahalaxmi here.

"Western Railway has opened the first of its kind printing press heritage gallery at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai. This unique heritage gallery was inaugurated by V P Pathak, member (Materials Management) of the Railway Board during his recent visit to Mumbai," a statement issued by Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relations officer of the WR said on Wednesday.

With this, the Western Railway Mahalaxmi General Stores Depot (GSD) has become the first in Indian Railways to portray a heritage gallery of the printing and allied machines used in the Western Railway Printing Press since 1948, which are still in working condition, it said.

The GSD Mahalaxmi is spread over 12,171 sq meter area, which is a British-era single-storey building made with black stone having interiors made with wood, has its own beauty and uniqueness, it added.

According to the statement, the press came into existence in 1912 under the Greater Indian Peninsular Railway (GIP) Bombay, as the railway needed stationery and tickets to run the operations. In 1953, the press was shifted to GSD Mahalaxmi at the WR.

"In 1969, a 90,000 sq ft multi-storey building was specially constructed to house the press at Shakti Mills Lane in Mahalaxmi. High speed letterpress rotary machines were imported. These machines were tailor-made to the requirement of security and safety features of Western Railway," it said.

Parcel way bills and railway receipts for all zonal railways of India, along with stationery and money value items required for the Western Railway were printed at this press. This printing press was declared closed on July 31, 2018, after serving for 48 years and 10 months in the new building and a total of 106 years right from the British era, the statement said.