Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai India

Railway Station. By cruisingindia.com on Oct 28, 2006.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Images

The Central Railway is one of the sixteen sectors of the Indian Railways and headquartered at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, CST. A large section of the building covers administrative offices of the Central Railways which also include commercial operations such as railway reservations. The Central Railway travels over most of the central and northeast parts of the metropolis extending to the suburbs of the city.

The network covers a total one-way length of around 125 km. The Harbour Line, a sub-division of the Central Railway covers a distance of 54 km along the extreme east areas of the city region near the docks and further extends into Navi Mumbai, the planned annexes of the city called ‘New Bombay’.

The station takes pride in the fact that in 1853, it flagged off the first passenger railway train in India traveling between Victoria Terminus station and Central Mumbai suburb, Thane.

CST is the most heavily linked and the busiest rail stations in India serving local travel as well as long distance Indian passageways. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus typifies all the features of a regular Indian railway station - the chaos, anxious passengers, and porters with heads full of oversized baggage, ticket collectors in black, hawkers, beggars and sweepers all adding to the cacophony at the station. The station’s modern and computerized building annexure kind of mimics the commotion of Mumbai city in its everyday affairs.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus History

The famed Victoria Terminus is located on the eastern shoreline of Mumbai. The site served as a storehouse of goods awaiting shipments from the Mumbai docks. In 1850, The Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in this area and called it Bori Bunder. Today, the area near the terminus is locally referred to as ‘Bori Bunder’ or a place where sacks are stocked.

The British Face-Lift The CST station is a result of the infrastructure hangover of the British rule in India. The British Raj identified and emphasized their own needs in India and built railway networks to bridge most of their travel hiccups. Railway stations were the most prominent entry points and cemented the gap between the rural and urban districts thus enabled the Raj to concretize their regime. The Victoria Terminus station was one of the grandest and considered the queen of all railway stations in India. In 1887, the station was aptly named as ‘Victoria Terminus’ under the British reign. This was done to commemorate the Jubilee Day celebrations of the sovereign, Queen Victoria. At a cost of INR 1.614 million, the construction started in 1878 and took ten years to complete. The station was opened to the public on New Year’s Day in 1882.

The building in its grandeur served many purposes. Apart from housing railway functionaries – the likes of accounts, chief engineer, and traffic manager – it also served as a government stronghold and housed other municipal offices such as the superintendent of the police.

Apparently, railway tickets were also printed in the same building and gradually the workforce within the building increased many fold for the next hundred years. In the 1980’s, the Indian railway ministry made a conscious effort to reduce the human load on the structure which currently holds around 700-800 employees of the Central Suburban Rail network. It is however rumored that more than 1,200 railway officials continue to sit in a building designed for 650.

The Victoria Terminus was renamed the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on March 4, 1999 to honor the bravest of brave warrior son of the soil, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It was a stance taken by the then local municipal offices to do away with anglicized names and give an Indian identity to public landmarks and streets. Despite being renamed, the station is still referred to as “VT” station by hardcore habitants of Mumbai.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Architect

The CST station building is based on design details by Frederick Williams Stevens, a reputed architect under service of the erstwhile British Raj. An INR of 1.614 millions was a princely sum to stake for one railway station model but Stevens raised the commission. He constructed the station which was based on a water color masterpiece sketched by draughtsman Axel Herman. On earning the commission, Stevens went on a ten-month Europe trip making detailed study of the stations there. It is said that Steven was inspired by St. Pancras Station in London and that the Victoria Terminus followed that model. It is believed that Stevens was rewarded INR 5,000 by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, an enormous amount in those days.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Architecture

The 19th century Italian Gothic building was intended as the main train station in Mumbai. Built in local sandstone, the style is a combination of the then popular English Venetian Gothic styles endorsed with elements of Indian architecture. The central dome bears a thirteen feet solid figurine personifying ‘Progress’, with its arms raised towards the sky on the south-western part of the building. This follows the unique Bombay style of architecture, an emerging trend during the days of the Raj when British architects worked with Indian craftsmen. The trend was to fuse Indian architectural tradition and expressions to structures and buildings alongside Victorian or the Gothic styles. There is a clock on the tower with a diameter of 3.19 meters. Carvings of gargoyles, and animals like elephants, peacocks, monkeys, and lions intermingle with the domes, ramparts, spires turrets, and stained glass windows. The terminus looks more like a cathedral than a terminus.

The fusion of the two architectural styles makes the ground plan of the building complicated but exhibits wonderful figurines, carvings and arches. The students of the nearby Sir J J School of Arts in Mumbai lent their artistic acumen to the interiors of the station complex complete with its delicate wood carvings, tiles, ornamental iron and brass railings, grills for the ticket offices, the balustrades for the grand staircases and other embellishments.

The edifice is therefore an interesting mix of domes, spires, columns and minarets. A protected building, the CST was put on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site on July 2, 2004, one of the first functional administrative building to be put on this list. Due to some technical reasons, the platforms attached to the main office block however are not considered as part of heritage site. The grandeur of the ethereal building thus symbolized Mumbai as the mercantile port city on the Indian subcontinent within the British Commonwealth.

The terminus portrayed the cultural, social and military reach in the days of the Raj. Like most train stations, the Victoria Terminus reflected the social ethos with rooms, restaurants and conveniences reserved for Europeans. The station also had distinct premises for its Hindu and Muslim counterparts. The rush of hawkers, servants, beggars and platform dwellers in the past resembled the hustle-bustle of current day Mumbai even today. Unfortunately, in the 21st century the Heritage nature of the building complex has lost meaning to the hordes of commuters who descend on the terminus’s platforms to proceed for their set destinations. The station has been reduced to a transitory mid-point destination platform. The millions who pass through the train station every working day project a daily silent yet frenetic procession in and around the terminus.

The irony lies in the fact that there is less wonder in the eyes of its passengers who step on the platforms every 24 hours. In Mumbai’s fast-paced mode, these travelers, mainly suburban train commuters hardly have any time to stare at the majestic ceiling or muse at the sketches of the station which was painstakingly drawn by Stevens. Also, these local train regulars might not be aware of the fact that this raging rush hour hell of a station was once a public hanging ground, a hell for those condemned with onlookers hurling stones at them.

Unfortunately, the glamour and élan of the CST during the Raj realm has lost its mettle in the daily grind of everyday lives as blue collared suburban workers from far out townships of Karjat, Dombivli, Kalyan, Thane, Kurla and Mankhurd vie to earn their daily bread.

Notwithstanding, the 116 year queen of railway station stands tall and progressive echoing the will and determination of those who come starry eyed to the land of capital and monetary dreams that is Mumbai.

Directions:
Dr. D.N. Road
Mumbai, 400 001

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