Train of revival: Station redevelopment must go beyond 'prettification'

Indian consumer-facing buildings are famous for their lack of convenience and disagreeable environment, and Indian stations are the finest examples of these flaws

The Indian Railways should accept with alacrity the offer by two of India's leading architects, Hafeez Contractor and C P Kukreja, to develop some stations free of cost. The offers come just as Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) gets ready to announce an empanelled group of architects to redesign 600-odd stations, as announced in the Budget. Messrs Contractor and Kukreja’s offers are important because both can be relied on to introduce an imaginative and dynamic aesthetic to India’s depressingly dingy railway stations.

One of the mysteries of independent India has been the appaling deterioration in standards of public architecture. The