Mr. Javadekar underscored the need to sustain India’s biodiversity in the present times and about 30 lakh students are expected to view it in 20 states. It will travel for 194 days and stop at 57 places before ending its journey on February 4, 2015, in Gandhinagar. The statement said the train was the brand ambassador of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity in Hyderabad in 2012 and it was stationed there to showcase India’s natural riches. The train had set quite a few records and milestones and it was perhaps the world’s most visited train exhibition. Within India, it had gone to the highest rail track possible for broad gauge, and also covered some extreme locations in the north, south, east and west.

Of the 16 coaches of the Science Express- Biodiversity Special, eight are dedicated to showcasing bio-geographical zones of India through a variety of interactive exhibits, short films and videos. The remaining coaches have exhibits on climate change, energy and water conservation and other issues. Mr. Javadekar said an advertising campaign would be initiated to sensitize and educate people on the nuances of the rich biodiversity of the country. India with 2.5 per cent of the earth’s land mass and 17 per cent of the world’s population, had eight per cent of the world’s biodiversity. The current decade (2011-2020) has been declared as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity and the United Nations Decade for Deserts and Fight against Desertification.

Since its launch in 2012, the Science Express Biodiversity Special train has covered 114 stations and travelled more than 37,000 km in the first two phases, the statement added.