Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

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Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus  Designed by Frederick William Stevens with influences from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and traditional Mughal buildings, the station was built in 1887 in the Bori Bunder area of Mumbai to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The new railway station was built on the location of the Bori Bunder Station . Originally intended only to house the main station and the administrative offices of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, a number of ancillary buildings have been added subsequently, all designed so as to harmonise with the main structure. 

The original platforms were from 1-9. As the Harbour line was being extended from its previous terminus at Dockyard road to VT, to prevent congestion, a new mainline concourse with platforms 10-13 to the east of the existing suburban concourse was constructed, to handle main line traffic was erected in 1929. The original building is still in use to handle suburban traffic and is used by over three million commuters daily. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Central Railway. Bori Bunder (alternatively "Bori Bandar") was one of the areas along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India which was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the area's name, 'Bori' means sack and 'Bandar' means port or haven (in Persian); So Bori Bunder literally means a place where sacks are stored. In the 1850s, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in this area and the station took its name as Bori Bunder. On 16 April 1853 the Great Indian Peninsula Railway operated the historic first passenger train in India from Bori Bunder to Thane covering a distance of 34 km (21 mi), formally heralding the birth of the Indian Railways. The train between Bori Bunder and Thane took 57 minutes at a distance of 35 km (22 mi) apart.

 The CST was constructed using high level of engineering both in terms of railway engineering and civil engineering. It is one of the first and is considered as one of the finest products of the use of industrial revolution technology merged with revival of the Gothic Revival style in India . The centrally domed office structure has a 330 feet long platform connected to a 1,200 feet long train shed, and its outline provides the skeleton plan for building. CST's dome of dovetailed ribs, built without centering, was considered as a novel achievement of the era. 

The dome is an octagonal ribbed structure with a colossal female figure symbolizing 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 ornamentation in the form of statuary, bas-reliefs, and friezes is exuberant yet well controlled.