Mumbai: One of city’s first tricolour signboards at Borivli station

The new signboard is already up at Borivli station. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Remnants of the British Raj continue to be shaken off; this time, the red and blue signboards at railway stations are giving way to tricolour ones. Borivli railway station on Western Railway is one of the first stations on the suburban railway network to get tricolour station signboards as per Indian Railways' new station signage policy. mid-day had reported last year how the new signage policy had been framed by the Indian Railways.

Indian Railways has the largest number of stations in the world. New tertiary boards displaying station names with tricolour backgrounds have been introduced. The emphasis is on providing intuitive way-finding and availability of signage at key decision making points. While there is emphasis on standardisation of signage, the need for flexibility in case of stations with strong architectural vocabulary has also been recognised," an official said.

The new signage will be gradually rolled out to standardise signage of all forms in the Railways. Pic/Nimesh Dave

"There was a need felt to address the issue of standard guidelines on signage at stations that will be consistent and adequate. It is important that every passenger has easy access to facilities with standard signage. The policy document on Standard Signage at Stations, a copy of which is with mid-day, prioritises simple language, clear font, easy-to-identify colours, and intuitive pictograms. It is made keeping in mind the requirements of all passengers, including the elderly, women, children, the differently-abled, etc. The colours of the signage, the type and size of the fonts have been standardised. The concept of grouping of signage has been introduced for faster way finding," he added.

The popular blue-and-red rounds - or ‘bull's-eye' and ‘target' as it is commonly known - has been a part of all station signage in India, which had its origins in London. A precursor to the rounds was a winged, spoked wheel with a crossbar. A version of the wheel was used by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, fashioning it a bright red circle, with a blue bar across. Somewhere along the way, this round found its way to Indian rail stations, and remained very much in use.