Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus(CSMT) formerly known as Victoria Terminusis a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India which serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways. The station has been designed by Frederick William Stevensaccording to the concept of Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and meant to be a similar revival of Indian Goth (classical era) architecture. 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 has been built where the Bori Bunder railway station[3] once stood. It is one of the busiest railway stations in India,[4] serving as a terminal for both long-distance trains and commuter trains. The station's name was changed from Victoria Terminus (with code BB) to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (with code CSTM) in March 1996 in honour of Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire. In 2017, the station was again renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (with code CSMT).

Bori Bunder (alternatively "Bori Bandar") was a tract of land along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India. Before the construction of the terminus, a warehouse used to exist which was used to store goods imported to Mumbai and exported from Mumbai. The name of the tract of land is derived from two words - Boriand Bandar. Bori means sack and Bandarmeans port or haven (in Marathi); So, the literal meaning of Bori Bunder is a port where sacks are stored. In 1853, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway built its railway terminus in the tract of land where the warehouse stood. Based on the location, the station was named as Bori Bunder railway station. On 16 April, 1853 the Great Indian Peninsula Railway operated the first passenger train in India from Bori Bunder to Thane covering a distance of 34 km (21 mi). The time taken by the train to complete its journey from Bori Bunder railway station to Thane was fifty-seven minutes.

Second building



A 1903 stereographic image of the Victoria Terminus, Bombay which was completed in 1888.

The station was then rebuilt as the Victoria Terminus, named after the then reigning Queen Victoria. The station was designed by the consulting British architect Frederick William Stevens (1848–1900). Work began in 1878. He received ₹1,614,000 (US$25,000) as the payment for his services.[1] Stevens earned the commission to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolour sketch by draughtsman Axel Haig.[1] The final design bears some resemblance to St Pancras railway station in London.[1][5] GG Scott's plans for Berlin's parliament building had been published four years before, and also has marked similarities to the station's design.[6] The station took ten years to complete,[5] the longest for any building of that era in Bombay. This famous architectural landmark in a Gothic-revival style was built as the headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. Since then, the station came to be known as Bombay VT.(Railway code-BBVT) 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 number of platforms were nine (from platform number 1 to platform number 9). As the Harbour line was being extended from its previous terminus at Dockyard road to VT, congestion at the railway station was imminent. To prevent congestion, a new mainline concourse with four new platforms (from platform number 10 to platform number 13) was constructed in 1929 to the east of the existing suburban concourse to handle main line traffic. 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. The station was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in 1996. The station was named after the great 17th-century Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji. The station was again renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in 2015

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