Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

The picture of the existing station

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was formerly known as Victoria Terminus (Bombay VT) or Boribunder. It was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai CST) in1996 in memory of the famous Maratha King Chhatrapati Shivaji. It is a historic railway station in Mumbai. It is the first up station in Mumbai. It is also the headquarters of the Central Railways. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India.

Victoria Terminus 1903

The station was designed by Frederick William Stevens, a consulting architect, in 1887-1888. The masterpiece watercolour sketch was made by draughtsman Axel Haig. The design of the station has some resemblance to St. Pancras station in London. It took ten years to complete. It was named "Victoria Terminus" in honour of the Queen and Empress Victoria of England. It was opened on the date of her Golden Jubilee in 1887. This famous architectural landmark in Gothic style was built as the headquarters of the great Indian Peninsular Railway. Since then the station came to be known as Bombay VT. It was also known as Boribunder due to majority of the population around the station was dominated by the Muslim Bohri Community.
The station was nominated on 2 July 2004 as World Heritage Site by the World HeritageCommittee of UNESCO.
The station stands as an example of 19th century railway architectural marvels for its advanced structural and technical solutions.
For comprehensive information of all the up-country trains, a very good website is available named as India Rail Info (External link).

On 26 November 2008, the two terrorists from Pakistan entered the passenger waiting hall of the CST, opened fire with AK-47 rifles and threw grenades at the people. More than 50 people were killed in the attack.

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