National Rail Museum in Delhi is now offering rides on India’s oldest monorail

Once owned by the Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, India’s oldest monorail at Delhi’s National Rail Museum will now give a ride to keen visitors who would like to experience this historical train.
With an aim to preserve a part of its heritage, the Indian Railways has actually worked towards restoring this locomotive train which is 108 years old. Open for all kinds of visitors, the train ride is available within the premises of the railway museum in Chanakyapuri, every Thursday.

The monorail has just 10 seats and a ticket for a swat costs 500 INR for a metre-long trip.
Known as the Patiala State Monorail Trainways (PSMT), this rail carriage is unique in its ways and is a partially road-borne railway system.

According to the Indian Railways, this locomotive in Delhi’s rail museum was one of the four such locomotives that were imported by the princely states from the United Kingdom. This particular one was imported by the ruler of Patiala in 1908.


Although it was brought to the museum around 30 years ago, the restoration of this monorail, which lasted for a period three months, was done only after railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani visited the museum last year.

“Restoring this old engine with a coach was not easy. The width of the top of the track was more than normal, so we could not get the exact track. We purchased it in parts and grinded it here so that the train could run on it. Finally, we put the train back on track last Thursday and we will run it every Thursday,” said Amit Saurastri, director of the rail museum.

Although these rides will be open to the visitors just once a week for now, the frequency might be increased if there are enough demands.