Churchgate Station Turns 50
Churchgate Station turns 50 years this month. The station is the rail head for the Western Railway commuter line and has many firsts to its credits.
- It was the country’s first local network to run on AC-DC currents;
- It had the first pedestrian subway
- The world’s first ladies special was operated from here.
Churchgate station, which caters to lakhs of people daily, is set to celebrate its Golden Jubilee. An exhibition of old photographs, postcards and literature depicting history and heritage of the station will be held from June 4 to 9. [link]
Other interesting facts about the station
- The building was inaugurated in 1957 by then union Railway Minister Jagjivan Ram;
- There were 152 up and 144 down locals from Churchgate in 1957. Today there are 427 and 420 respectively
- The building came up after well-known architect firm Gregson, Baitley and King proposed a new station building in 1925. It was completed in 1957.
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UPDATE: Thanks Dini for the correction. I have uploaded the correct photograph.
As son of the architect who designed Churchgate Station in 1957, I would like to point out that the photograph shown is that of the old “Victoria Terminus”, which was designed by Gregson, Baitley and King, not Churchgate!
Dini
Thanks for pointing out the error. It has been corrected.
Thanks for correcting the photograph, but you still have the Architect incorrect! The building was designed by my father Nariman B Shroff in 1957, he was then a Director of the Indian Railways Board and their Chief Architect. If I am not mistaken, he served part of his architectural apprenticeship with Gregson Baitley and King in the 30’s and played a small part in the design of Victoria Terminus too.