Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is a historic train station and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It also goes by its abbreviation(s) CST or CSTM.
The terminal has also been the location of filming many movies, some famous ones include the "Jai Ho" song in Slumdog Millionaire and scenes in the 2011 Bollywood film Ra.One.
It is a popular landmark in the city and is one of the major railway stations here, with more than 3 million rail commuters using it each day. The property is located in the southern part of Mumbai.
The construction of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus began in the year 1878, in a location south of the old Bori Bunder railway station, and was completed in 1887, the year that marked 50 years of Queen Victoria's rule, and the building thus was named “Victoria Terminus” then.
It eventually became a symbol of mercantile, making Mumbai mercantile port city on the Indian Subcontinent within the British Commonwealth. Later in 1996, the station was renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in honour of the founder of the Maratha empire - Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was designed by British born architectural engineer Frederick William Stevens. The terminus represents an exuberant Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, blended with themes from traditional Indian architecture. This even caused Bombay to be known as the “Gothic City”.
The terminal took over 10 years to be constructed. It was designed with beautiful stone dome, turrets, pointed arches, and a ground plan model that represented Indian traditional Architecture. It is an outstanding representation of two architectural cultures blending.
In addition to 4 railway tracks that were built in it initially, the terminus now has 7 suburban and 11 separate out-station tracks. This has led to the restructuring of several areas in the surroundings, and the addition of new buildings.
CSMT has a total of 18 platforms - 7 platforms (Platform 1 to Platform 7) for suburban trains and 11 platforms (Platform 8 to Platform 18) for long-distance trains.
Air-conditioned dormitories were also built for waiting passengers inside the terminal in April 2013. These consisted of about 58 beds for men and 20 for women.
CST can be reached by boarding any train within the city, as it is very likely that it might just go through this station. Visitors coming from other central or suburban railway stations, can reach CST through other modes of local transport like cars or buses which are easily available at frequent hours. There is no entry fee to enter the terminus.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus is located at a distance of 20 km from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, and the closest bus point from the terminal is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal bus stop.
Popular places such as the following in Mumbai are within a 5km radius of the terminus and can be easily reached by road or even by walk:
Previously known as Victoria Terminus, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja Terminus is the busiest and largest train station in India and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Mumbai. A fine example of Italian-Gothic architecture, this century-old heritage building was built in 1887 and designed by the British architect and engineer Frederick William Stevens.
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