How CST came to light up Mumbaikars’ lives

CST is lit up during holidays to mirror the moods of various festivals such as Id, Diwali and Independence Day.

The lights that adorn the façade of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) spread festive cheer and have become a beacon of hope, but few know that it took the Railways a year to get the custom-made fittings done and the efforts of 15 of its staffers, who work persistently to reproduce the exact hues needed.

CST is lit up during public holidays to mirror the moods of various festivals such as Id, Diwali, and Independence Day. Also, a display of the French tricolour was used to convey the nation’s solidarity with France during the recent Paris attacks. Mumbaikars have been sharing scores of photos of the bedecked UNESCO heritage site on social media.

The work for the CST lighting started back in April 2014 and was completed by August 2015. Speaking about the massive undertaking, chief public relations officer Narendra Patil said, “It takes year-round maintenance by our engineering department to keep the machinery up to date since the spotlights are one of a kind.”

The Central Railway (CR) worked with Bajaj Electricals to create these fittings and then made use of software known as BMX to create various palettes. For instance, the green colour seen in the Id display isn’t quite the same as that of the tri-colour display on Independence Day. The system uses the basic red, green, blue (RGB) scheme to create colours.

The CR has tied up with Mumbai Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) who paid the Rs 4. 9 crore that it took up to set up the system as a part of the beautification process for the city.

Furthermore, it takes three days of continuous work in a month to clean up or fix all 1,080 lights. An official said, “Each of the 1,080 custom fittings has a specific code and we have to punch in these codes to create the mixing of colours. We basically throw different types of colours on the façade and its combination is what you finally see from afar.”