Mumbai Central

It’s really interesting that there have been reviews published about Mumbai CST and Churchgate Station etc. but I couldn’t find one about this one which I believe is a bit unfair. For such a beautiful and historical building not to find a mention here would be doing injustice to it. The terminus has its share of history; the erstwhile Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway decided to extend its reach from Baroda to Pathankot and during that period the Colaba-Ballard Estate Station which served its need were seemingly insufficient to cater to the growing demand and so it led to the plans for construction of a new terminus; Bombay Central Terminus. It was Claude Batley who was assigned to design the new mainline terminus and plans were set in motion in 1928 to that effect and in 1930 the terminus was complete and put to public use. The Times of India at that point in time noted that the terminus seemed to be inspired on the lines of the Grand Central Station, New York. It’s a three-storied building with the influence of Mughal architecture and with a garden on the east side (main entrance). The station is divided into two parts and has a total of 9 platforms (5 for long distance and 4 serving suburban trains). At that point in time, the terminus was designed as such that the first floor was kept for European styled catering and other waiting rooms, the second floor used as retiring rooms for those passengers who were in the city for a short time. At the termination of the platforms is this huge concourse with an array of restaurants and general waiting area. Both the parts are connected by a foot-over-bridge for easy access and movement. Almost all the long distance trains to the north and to the west used to originate from this terminus but nowadays only a few premium trains like the Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Duronto and some other important trains originate and terminate here. It was renamed as Mumbai Central in 1997 after a change in the name of the city from Bombay to Mumbai and as recent as in 2018 the station code was also changed from BCT to MMCT. During ‘those’ days, this is the terminus where one used to alight and continue their journey further south from another terminus the majestic CSMT. To be fair, it doesn’t come across as a striking attraction as the CSMT would, but it has as I said its rightful place in history which cannot be ignored. By the standards of India, Mumbai Central Terminus is an incredibly clean, ordered and easy to navigate train station. Once you walk in through the entrance and vestibule, is the waiting area with food court on one side, the entrance to the platforms on the opposite and a departure board up high. There’s also an A/C waiting room for first class passengers.

Enormous Station!

Great railway station

Awesome station. Fooding and lodging facilities are at walking. Transportation is very easy as we have very easy access to Bus, Auto, Cab and rickshaws as well. Station is being kept clean and good care is being taken care of. One can easily walk to the platforms. So a good and nice station.

5 platforms... No need to climb stairs... Easily accessible... Well covered... All amenities available lok food, washrooms, porter service, vehicle to drop needy people to their coach with nominal fees, adjacent local train station, books, chemist....