20 June,2016 05:30 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Victoria Terminus. Pic/AFP
One of the busiest railway station in India, the Victoria Terminus (VT), now known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) opened in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1887.
In the 1850s, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in the Bori Bunder area along the Eastern shoreline of Mumbai. Bori Bunder was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. It was eventually rebuilt as Victoria Terminus, named after the then reigning Queen.
Designed by the consulting British architect Frederick William Stevens, who earned the commission to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolour sketch by draughtsman Axel Haig. The final design bears some resemblance to St Pancras railway station in London
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In 1996, Victoria Terminus was renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by Suresh Kalmadi, who was the Minister of Railways at the time. It was done to honour legendary Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji.
On 2 July 2004, the station was nominated as a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. The official website of UNESCO describes it as, an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India, blended with themes deriving from Indian traditional architecture."
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