| Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus | |
|---|---|
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Victoria Terminus | |
 Façade of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus | |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Indo-Saracenic Victorian Gothic Revival |
| Location | Fort, Mumbai,Maharashtra, 400001,Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Coordinates | 18°56′23″N72°50′07″E / 18.9398°N 72.8354°E /18.9398; 72.8354 |
| Construction started | 1878 |
| Completed | May 1888; 137 years ago (1888-05)[1] |
| Cost | ₹1,614,000 (US$19,000) (at the time) now₹2,013 million (US$24 million) |
| Client | Central Railway |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Frederick William Stevens,Axel Haig |
| Engineer | Wilson Bell |
| Other information | |
| Public transit access | Aqua Line 3CSMT Metro |
| Website | |
| https://cr.indianrailways.gov.in/ | |
| Criteria | Cultural: ii, iv |
| Reference | 945 |
| Inscription | 2004 (28thSession) |
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus  | |||||||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||||||
| Location | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Area,Fort, Mumbai,Maharashtra 400001 India | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 18°56′23″N72°50′08″E / 18.93985°N 72.83544°E /18.93985; 72.83544 | ||||||||||||||
| System | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Indian Railways | ||||||||||||||
| Operated by | Central Railway | ||||||||||||||
| Lines | Mainline:
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| Platforms | 18 | ||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 40 (Multiple) | ||||||||||||||
| Connections | |||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||
| Structure type | At-grade | ||||||||||||||
| Parking | Yes | ||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Station code | CSMT ST(current)
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| Zone(s) | Central Railway zone | ||||||||||||||
| Division(s) | Mumbai CR | ||||||||||||||
| Website | https://cr.indianrailways.gov.in/ | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
| Opened | May 1853; 172 years ago (1853-05)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | May 1888; 137 years ago (1888-05)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Electrified | 3 February 1925; 100 years ago (1925-02-03)[5] | ||||||||||||||
| Previous names | |||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), officiallyChhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT),[a] also known asVictoria Terminus (VT), is a historicrailway terminus andUNESCOWorld Heritage Site inMumbai (Bombay),Maharashtra, India.[7]
The terminus was designed by a British architectural engineerFrederick William Stevens from an initial design byAxel Haig, in an exuberantItalian Gothic style. Its construction began in 1878, in a location south of the oldBori Bunder railway station,[8] and was completed in 1887, the year ofQueen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
In March 1996, the station's name was officially changed from Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus afterShivaji, the 17th-century warrior king and the firstChhatrapati of theMaratha Empire who founded the polity in the westernMarathi-speaking regions of theDeccan Plateau.[9][10][11] In 2017, the station was again renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (with code CSMT), in which the titleMaharaj means "great king" or emperor.[12] The initials VT and CST are commonly used for the station.[13]
The terminus is the headquarters of India'sCentral Railway. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India,[14] serving as a terminal for both long-distance andsuburban trains with a total number of 18 platforms.
This famous landmark which has become a symbol of the city, was built as the headquarters of theGreat Indian Peninsular Railway.
The railway station was built to replace theBori Bunder railway station, in theBori Bunder area of Bombay, a prominent port and warehouse area known for its imports and exports. Since Bombay became a major port city at the time, a bigger station was built to meet its demands, and was named Victoria Terminus, after the then reigningEmpress of India,Queen Victoria. The station was designed byFrederick William Stevens, a British engineer architect, attached to the Bombay office of the Indian colonial Public Works Department. Work began in 1878. He received₹1,614,000 (US$19,000) as the payment for his services.[1] Stevens earned the commission to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolour sketch by draughtsmanAxel Haig.[1] The design has been compared toGeorge Gilbert Scott's 1873St Pancras railway station in London, also in an exuberant Italian Gothic style, but it is far closer to[1][15] Scott's second prize winning entry for Berlin's parliament building, exhibited in London in 1875, which featured numerous towers and turrets, and a large central ribbed dome.[16] The style of the station is also similar to other public buildings of the 1870s in Mumbai, such as the Elphinstone College but especially the buildings ofMumbai University, also designed by G Scott.
The station took ten years to complete,[15] the longest for any building of that era in Mumbai.
During its construction, a marble statue ofQueen Victoria was installed in the main façade of the building, in a canopy under the clock. In the 1950s, authorities had begun to remove statues of theBritish figures from government buildings and public spaces based on a directive from theGovernment of India.[17] Most of the statues, including that of Queen Victoria, were sent toVictoria Gardens (later renamedRani Baug) where they were left lying on the grass in the open until at least the 1980s. ARight to Information report was filed, but had no records of the missing statue being exported out of India. Historians now believe that the statue was smuggled out, sold by politicians, or destroyed.[18] The symbol ofProgress, another statue, featured on the top of the dome, is often mistaken for that of Queen Victoria.
The station has been renamed several times. It was built to replaceBori Bunder, the terminus of theGreat Indian Peninsula Railway from 1853 to 1888 and was named Victoria Terminus to commemorate theGolden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. In 1996, the station was renamed toChhatrapati Shivaji Terminus[19][20] in honour ofShivaji, the founder and firstChhatrapati of theMaratha Empire.
In December 2016, theFadnavis Ministry passed a resolution to change the name to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in the Maharashtra Assembly and in May 2017, the home ministry officially sent a letter to the state government denoting the name change, following which the station was yet again renamed as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. However, both the former names "VT" as well as "CST" along with the current name "CSMT" are popularly used.[21][22]
On 26 November 2008, two Pakistani terrorists entered the passenger hall of CSMT, opened fire and threw grenades at people. The terrorists were armed withAK-47 rifles. One of the terrorists,Ajmal Kasab, was later caught alive by the police and identified by eyewitnesses. The others did not survive. The attacks began around 21:30 when the two men entered the passenger hall and opened fire,[23][24] The attackers killed 58 people and injured 104 others,[24] their assault ending at about 22:45 after they exited the station via the North FOB towards the west toCama hospital back entrance. The CCTV evidence was used to identify and indict Kasab.[23] In 2010, Kasab was sentenced to death for his role in the attack, and in 2012 he was hanged.[25]
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The main station building was designed in theVictorian Gothic Revival style of architecture by British architectF. W. Stevens, with influences fromRomanesque andclassical Indian architecture. The overall complex consists of a centrally domed office structure and a 330-foot-long platform connected to a 1,200-foot-long train shed.
The main office building has a C-shaped plan which is symmetrical on an east–west axis, but it has been designed in such a way that all sides are proportionally ornamented. It is crowned by a high central dome, which acts as the focal point. The dome is an octagonal ribbed structure with anallegorical female figure symbolising Progress, holding a torch pointing upwards in her right hand and a spoked wheel in her left hand.
The side wings enclose the courtyard, which opens on to the street. The wings are anchored by monumental turrets at each of their four corners, which balance and frame the central dome. The façades present the appearance of well-proportioned rows of windows and arches. The skyline, turrets, pointed arches, and eccentric ground plan are close to classical Indian palace architecture.
The interior of the heritage building was conceived as a series of large rooms with high ceilings, which are now primarily used as offices of theCentral Railways. The ground floor of the North Wing, known as the Star Chamber, still in use as the suburban booking office, is embellished with Italian marble and polished Indian blue stone, and its walls were lined with glazed tiles made byMaw & Co of Britain.[18]
The building is liberally ornamented with statuary, bas-reliefs, and friezes. The stone arches are covered with carved foliage andgrotesques.[26] The main entrance gates are flanked by figures of a lion (representing Great Britain) and a tiger (representingIndia). The main structure is built from a blend of Indian sandstone and limestone, while high-quality Italian marble was used for the key decorative elements. Externally, the building is decorated with sculpture, tiles, ornamental iron and brass railings. There are allegorical statues representing Commerce, Agriculture, Engineering and Science, as well as busts of Indian donors such asJamsetjee Jeejeebhoy andJagannath Shankarseth carved into niches on the external walls.[27] The decorative elements such as the sculpture, wood carving, grills for the ticket offices, and the balustrades for the grand staircases were the work of students at theSir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art, guided byJohn Lockwood Kipling[28].
The station stands as an example of 19th-century railway architectural marvels for its advanced structural and technical solutions. It was constructed using a high level of engineering both in terms of railway and civil engineering. Its dome, supported by dovetailed ribs built without centering, was considered a novel achievement of the era.[29]
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Since 2022, the heritage building of the station has been lit with LED lights in the evenings, which are often changed thematically, particularly for Indian national holidays such asIndependence Day andRepublic Day.[30]
CSMT has a total of 18 platforms—seven platforms are for suburban EMU trains and eleven platforms (Platform 8 to Platform 18) are for long-distance trains.
Rajdhani, Duronto, Garib Rath and Tejas Express leave from Platform No. 18.[31] Air-conditioned dormitories were inaugurated at CST on 16 April 2013. The facility has 58 beds for men and 20 for women.[32]
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus has a long-distance terminus from platforms 8 to 18. The list of trains are in the table:
| Name | Departure Time | Arrival Time | Train Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahanagari Express | 00:10 | 03:35 | 22177 |
| Mumbai CSMT- MGR Chennai Central Special Fare Special | 00:20 | 23:30 | 01015 |
| Mumbai CSMT- Latur Special Fare Special | 00:30 | 11:40 | 01105 |
| Mumbai CSMT–Madgaon Jan Shatabdi Express | 05:10 | 16:40 | 12051 |
| Mumbai CSMT–Madgaon Vande Bharat Express | 05:25 | 16:00 | 22229 |
| Mumbai CSMT–Chennai Express | 12:45 | 10:45 | 22159 |
| Mumbai CSMT–Nagercoil Balaji Express | 20:35 | 07:00 | 16351 |
| Mandovi Express | 07:10 | 21:55 | 10103 |
| Mumbai CSMT–Howrah Duronto Express | 17:15 | 20:40 | 12261 |
| International | |
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| Geographic | |
