Indian Railways gives fresh 'make-up' to ladies coaches in Mumbai

Sunil Nandgaonkar, a painter-cum-artist at the workshop, along with Vijay S. Rajpoot, has reportedly created the paintings in a ladies first and second class coaches. The paintings show birds singing on trees, dolphins jumping out of the water, a tiny land mass with coconut trees, lush greenery and flowery bushes.

An artist busy painting the interiors of a ladies coach of a suburban train in Mumbai. Image source: IANS

Indian Railways is striving hard to modernise its every feature to emerge as a world class service provider by rolling out a better experience for its passengers. In one such initiative, the national transporter's unit Western Railway (WR) has embarked upon a drive to paint the interiors of ladies coaches of the suburban trains with eye-catching scenic views to make the local travel experience more pleasant.

Interiors of the coach were given the make-up at the Mahalaxmi Workshop under a project `Hamara Station-Hamari Shaan`, said an IANS report, citing an official spokesperson.

Sunil Nandgaonkar, a painter-cum-artist at the workshop, along with Vijay S. Rajpoot, has reportedly created the paintings in a ladies first and second class coaches. The paintings show birds singing on trees, dolphins jumping out of the water, a tiny land mass with coconut trees, lush greenery and flowery bushes.

Notably, the WR's air-conditioned trains` ladies compartments were earlier painted with the image of a smiling woman to make it easy for women commuters to identify.

WR spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar told IANS that even suburban stations have been taken up for beautification with artistic paintings on staircases, foot-overbridges, booking offices entrance-exits, signages and the platforms, to provide a vibrant, soothing and colourful ambience for travellers.

The city`s lifeline facilitates around 8.5 million passengers to commute between their homes in suburban Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad to distant workplaces in south Mumbai.

In another development, the Union Cabinet yesterday approved a 294 km-long new broad gauge electrified line in Chhattisgarh between Katghora and Dongargarh, to be built at the cost of Rs 5,950 crore. The project will be a joint venture between the Chhattisgarh government and Railways Ministry in the ratio of 49:51.

According to the government statement, "The New Broad Gauge Electrified Line of 294.53 route km from Katghora to Dongargarh will provide rail connectivity to unserved areas of Chhattisgarh, opening them up for industrial development through movement of freight to the busy Jharsuguda-Nagpur section of Howrah-Mumbai route by avoiding busy yards of Bilaspur, Champa and Durg stations."

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