Bombay Central travels back in time

The Western Railway is all geared up to celebrate the platinum jubilee of Bombay Central station.

The station was formally opened on December 18, 1930.

A railway employee, C. S. Smith, who had joined Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) in 1905, then said, "Who can forget the thrill when we opened Bombay Central. It was a piece of perfect organisation carried out with little or no inconvenience."

The station with its "collection of huge structures" was erected within 21 months of the laying of the foundation stone.

The station has been serving the metropolis as an important link for regions right up to the westernmost and northernmost railheads of the country.

It has the honour of running one of the oldest and prestigious trains of the past such as the Frontier Mail and also one of the best run trains the Rajdhani Express to Delhi.

The station now has four suburban platforms and five outstation ones with 6,938 unreserved passengers and 5,166 reserved passengers originating from this station for long distance travel.

This prominent anchor for the entire line merged with other railways to become the Western Railway in the post-independence era.

It was the result of the Government of Mumbai's Back Bay Scheme to evacuate the oldest station at Colaba and find another site for long distance trains.

Smith, who was witness to the last train leaving Colaba, recalled, "Who can forget New Year's morning 1931 when the track was terminated finally at Church Gate and Colaba was closed down?

"After working the whole of New Year's Eve on my organisation, I saw the New Year in at a social gathering in a local club and arrived at Church Gate with some of my colleagues at daybreak to put the seal on Church Gate as the terminal in Bombay." Today, there is talk of reviving Colaba station but there is nothing concrete.

Mumbai Central also happens to be the only suburban station on the Western Railway, unlike the Central Railway's grand old Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus that has a regal look.

The eminent architect Claude Batley made a departure from the usual practice of integrating a station with the city by placing the three-storied station in a garden setting from the main roads with the entrance situated at the end of a vista and gardens on both sides.

He struck a new note in railway architecture not previously attempted in India and even used details from traditional styles.

In fact the station is actually based on the Mughal principles of planning the idea of an edifice in a garden.

The spacious concourse of the station once had separate Hindu and Muslim refreshment rooms.

It has now given way to modern fast food outlets such as McDonald's and Desi Deli and looks more cheerful and bright these days compared to the dull "station" atmosphere of the past.

An antique engine named "Little Red Horse" that cost Rs34,423, (Dh 2,753) when it was built in 1929, is today kept in the garden.