The Commonwealth Express (CW Express), a special exhibition train designed to promote the mega event that will take place in Delhi, will be on the Gandhinagar railway station in Gujarat on September 14 and 15, 2010.
The train contains 14 coaches, of which six coaches are devoted to telling the success story of information technology (IT) in India. Five other coaches provide a curtain raiser for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. The contribution of Indian Railways to the sports and a list of railway sportspersons who have won Arjuna awards, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards, Dronacharya award, Padmashree and Dhyanchand awards have been displayed in a separate coach in the train. Besidse, photographs of outstanding sports personalities of the country have been depicted in all around the coaches. The remaining coaches have the displays on milestones from information technology. These coaches will narrate the story of IT and communication, and how it affects the lives of the common man, especially in rural areas. An interesting aspect in the sixth coach is the story of communication over the years — from smoke signals to SMS and e-mails.
Ravi Saxena, additional chief secretary, Government of Gujarat who also heads the state's IT department along with Department of Science & Technology (DST), said, “The Commonwealth Express is about bridging the knowledge gap. This exhibition on wheel focuses on exhibition of information and communication technology in different fields, on ICT services and its influence on normal human life. The exhibition showcases the success of information technology in different fields, its importance in different events, e-governance plan, efforts behind maintenance and its multimedia usages.”
Flagged off from New Delhi on June 24, the CW Express will be on the track of different cities in the country and will back to its destination point on October 2. The CWG Express is a joint project between the Information Technology and Railway Ministries.