In an effort to provide a pleasing ride to women commuters, the interiors of two ladies coaches of the suburban trains of the Western Railway (WR) have been painted in a bright range of colours thanks to a project named 'Hamara Station-Hamari Shaan'. Sunil Nandgaonkar, a painter-cum-artist at the workshop, along with Vijay S. Rajpoot, dipped their paintbrushes in paint and gave the ladies coaches in two trains a distinctive (and happy) makeover.
The WR's air-conditioned trains' ladies compartments were previously painted a green with the image of a smiling woman to make it easy for women commuters to identify the coach. However, with the new facelift, the artwork ranges from birds singing on trees to dolphins jumping out of the water, and even has a small portait of a land mass with coconut trees, lush greenery and flowery bushes.
Western Railway's suburban stations have also joined the beautification campaign by making artistic paintings on staircases, foot-overbridges, booking offices entrance-exits, signages and the platforms, giving a vibrant, soothing and colourful ambience for the commuting millions. In 2016, two city-based NGOs, Mumbai First and Making A Difference Foundation, started the movement with nearly 30,000 citizens from across Mumbai joining the cause to paint, design and beautify railway stations from Churchgate to Dahisar and from CST to Thane.
Around 8.5 million commuters use the city's lifeline daily for the to-and-fro commute between their homes in suburban Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad to distant workplaces in South Mumbai, and a project such as this only makes their day brighter.