RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Stations to lose Raj-era

red in Mamata regime

KOLKATA : Yet another British legacy looks to be on its way out. Railway buildings will no longer be red in colour. In many places — particularly at stations that have been declared 'adarsh' (ideal) by railway minister Mamata Banerjee — new colour schemes, ranging from yellow and green to pink and even shades of purple have already been introduced.

It is not known whether Mamata has anything to do with the decision. One thing is certain, though. Ever since she took over, railway officials in charge of organising her public programmes have avoided use of red-coloured items. Carpets and chairs have turned green and care is taken to ensure that there is no red in the backdrop to the dais.

The colour red is avoided on invitation cards and newspaper advertisements. Even red roses are apparently a strict no-no in floral decorations. In Kolkata, during the Pujas last year, Metro stations were decorated with green and yellow lights, even blue sometimes, but not a strand of red.

The latest trend has been to scrape off the red paint from railway booking offices and other railway buildings and repaint them. There has been a mixed reaction from senior railway officials. While there are some who believe that the grandeur of the structures are lost once the red colour goes, others believe that the buildings have started looking much brighter. After all, there is no law that says that railway buildings have to be red in colour.

"It is not only about railway property. The British had the same colour code for all government buildings. Both Howrah station and Writers' Buildings are red in colour. Even police stations in Kolkata were painted red. This was probably done to distinguish government buildings from others. Another logic could be that most such buildings are all exposed brick structures. The best way to protect them from the weather was to coat them with red oxide. This colour lasts longer than any other," a senior official said.

Officials have been left wondering whether the Howrah station old complex will get a new colour scheme before long. The century-old South Eastern Railway headquarters at Garden Reach is also red in colour. Both of these are heritage structures and there is bound to be some confusion should any attempt be made to change their colour schemes.