Mumbai Central railway station
Mumbai Central | |||||||||||
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 Indian Railway and Mumbai Suburban Railway station | |||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | Anandrao Nair Marg, Mumbai, Maharashtra India | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 18°58′11″N 72°49′10″E / 18.9697°N 72.8194°E | ||||||||||
| Elevation | 6.62 metres (21.7 ft) | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Indian Railways | ||||||||||
| Operated by | Western Railways | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Western Line, Ahmedabad–Mumbai main line, New Delhi–Mumbai main line | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 9 (5 mainline trains + 4 for Mumbai suburban/local trains) | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 9 | ||||||||||
| Connections | BEST, Metro, MSRTC | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | Standard on-ground station | ||||||||||
| Parking | Yes (on the outstation side) | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Status | Functioning | ||||||||||
| Station code | MMCT | ||||||||||
| Zone(s) | Western Railways | ||||||||||
| Division(s) | Mumbai WR | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 18 December 1930 | ||||||||||
| Electrified | 18 December 1930 | ||||||||||
| Previous names | Bellasis Road (Suburban station) Bombay Central (from 1930 to 1995) | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Mumbai Central (formerly Bombay Central, station code: MMCT[1]) is a major railway station on the Western line, situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra in an area known by the same name. It serves as a major stop for both local and intercity trains with separate platforms between them. It is also a terminal for several long-distance trains including the Mumbai Rajdhani Express.
It is one of the five major terminal stations in Mumbai, the others being Mumbai CSMT, Mumbai LTT, Bandra and Dadar. Trains depart from the station connecting various destinations mostly across states in the northern, western and north-western parts of India. The station was renamed from Bombay Central to Mumbai Central in 1997, following the change of Bombay to Mumbai. In October 2017, Western Railway announced that the station code would change from BCT to MMCT on 1 February 2018.[2]
History
[edit]The Bombay Central station was built in response to the government directive to demolish the Churchgate-Colaba rail section owing to land reclamation needs. The BB&CI had to agree to this back in the 1870s, when it had extended the line to Colaba, when the permission to build the terminus was provided on the condition that in the event of any further reclamation schemes, the railway company would shift its railway to any other location between Marine Lines and Colaba.[3] The railway was provided a notice about the directed demolition in 1920. The BB&CI could not do this until a new terminus was found. A new station was completed of the name Bombay Central on 18 December 1930, and Colaba Terminus went defunct after the 31st December of the same year.
The Station was designed by the British architect Claude Batley, and constructed by the Shapoorji Pallonji in 1930 in a record time of 21 months. The project was then costed INR 15.6 million.[4] The station opened on 18 December 1930.
When the station opened in 1930, The Times of India suggested that the name Bombay Central was inspired by the Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The paper argued that the station should have been called Kamathipura, after the area it was located in. The paper suggested that the name Kamathipura was probably ruled out, because the area is a red-light district.[5]
The Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway extended its reach from Baroda to Pathankot via Delhi. The Colaba-Ballard Pier railway station proved insufficient in meeting the demands of a growing population which led the government to make plans for the construction of Bombay Central.
The present suburban route that once ran till Colaba was earlier served by Bellasis Road station. It was renamed Bombay Central (local) after the construction of the long-distance Bombay Central Terminus (BCT) on the eastern side.[6] In October 2017, Western Railway announced that the station code would change from BCT to MMCT on 1 February 2018.[2] The change in station code caused problems for people making advanced bookings using the IRCTC app during November 2017.[2]
Infrastructure
[edit]Gardens
[edit]There are two gardens located outside the station. One of the gardens houses a historic locomotive, popularly known as the "Little red horse". The locomotive was built by English firm Kerr Stuart and Co. in 1928. The engine operated on the Devgarh-Baria Railway Narrow Gauge line, owned by the Princely state of Devgarh-Baria. The line was merged into Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) in August 1949, and later became part of the Western Railway. The engine served for 61 years, before being transferred to the Pratapnagar workshop for shunting duties in 1990. It was placed at the garden in front of the Mumbai Central station in 1991 to commemorate its platinum jubilee.[7]
Gallery
[edit]-
An inside view of Mumbai Central Station -
12010 Shatabdi Express at Mumbai Central station -
Mumbai Central- view of the interior. -
Stained glass windows of the station as seen from the Suburban station platform -
The Stained glass windows as seen from the interior of the station. -
WAP-7 Locomotive outside Mumbai Central Passenger station. As seen from the Suburban station.
References
[edit]- ^ "Station Code Index" (PDF). Portal of Indian Railways. 2015. p. 46. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ a b c Mehta, Manthank (21 November 2017). "Mumbai Central station 'disappears' from railway app, commuters derailed". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ "A Century of Suburban Service (from Westrail News)" (PDF). wr.indianrailways.gov.in. 1961. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
- ^ Nauzer K Bharucha (25 November 2011). "Cyrus Mistry's entrepreneurial legacy". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ Doctor, Vikram (18 March 2017). "As recent demands in Mumbai show, battles over station names never seem to end". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ Banerji, Ajai (2006). "Renaming of Stations". IRFCA.
- ^ Rao, Shashank (28 April 2017). "Mumbai: 90-year-old 'Little red horse' shunted out by Metro III". Mid-Day. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Mumbai Central railway station at Wikimedia Commons
