You know that the southernmost station of Mumbai's Railway network is Churchgate. It is the terminus for all local trains that head toward South Bombay. However, for a while during the British era, to be precise, for 58 years, the lines went down a bit farther, all the way to Colaba! This tale of this station is filled with chapters of prominence, difficulties, and remedies. In fact, this station was first meant to be only a semi-permanent structure, and was eventually built as a lavish terminus, with a splendid station building, and a widespread yard. Had this new station survived, today it would have entered its 130th Year. This post is a tribute to that station, and I wish to share some interesting details about it here...
Colaba terminus, as it was called, was opened 9 whole years after BB&CIR (today's Western Railway), had established its network from Bombay to Ahmedabad, due to delays in the reclamation of Backbay (the body of water just beside the famous Marine Drive today). It was opened to Passenger traffic in 1873, and was supposed to be no more than a semi-permanent timber structure! This station was close to the Sassoon Docks, and in general the eastward docks in Colaba. While no images are said to exist of this station, we can have a glimpse of its yard, and its platform roofs in a portion of an image taken by Photographer, Raja Deen Dayal in the 1880s, which has been reproduced below.
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| A glimpse of the old station.. |
The bridge that you see in the foreground is the Wodehouse bridge, that was demolished a few years after independence (when the lines below it had been removed long before). For context, the camera is facing south, and you can even see the tower gate of the Sassoon Dock (which still stands today) in the middle of the image.
For clarity, I'll zoom in below. Here you can see the station shed, just near that white building. You can even spot a passenger train leaving the platform, if you look carefully in the centre. The lines would emerge from the southeast, make a right curve, pass under the Wodehouse bridge, and then head straight towards Churchgate, and beyond.
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| A better look |
Well the years passed, and as the demand for the railway service increased, so did the number of services. By 1888 more than 98 lakh had made use of the suburban local service. Evidently, the terminus was coming under quite a burden. Back then, 52 passenger trains were being handled at Colaba Terminus. Since there was no room for standing trains, three daily passenger trains had to shunted back toward Grant Rd. The station was so cramped, that it was often that soon after a passenger train would arrive, it would be shunted away from the platform, to allow a suburban (local) train to enter the platform; this would have to be done, even before the passengers had enough time to take out their luggage!
Well, an issue this was, and many ideas were soon raised to remedy this issue. Thoughts were that this could be settled if an additional siding accommodation was provided at Marine lines, and this station would be made a terminus for all long distance passenger trains. This was not just a matter for the BB&CI Railway, but rather one in the general interest of the Bombay public. Therefore, the government referred the matter to a special Committee in 1888. The Committee stated that the option of Marine lines was not a satisfactory one, as it would take up the limited space available for recreation, which the public would oppose. (Just imagine how this would have affected the geography today!) Instead, the committee suggested the enlargement of the existing Colaba station. An empty plot of land situated to the west of the existing station (which you can see in the first image too, just beside the seaside road) was given to the railway, to build a large terminus at Colaba. Plans and estimates were raised and submitted in April 1893. The Government Council sanctioned Rs. 4,94,843 for this purpose. And the new Colaba Terminus was opened on the 7th April, 1896. Interestingly, the original station's lines were converted into carriage sidings for the new station.
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| The grand new Station Building of the new Terminus All due Credits: Western Railway |
Above is the image of the grand station building that was built. This is a northward looking view, so the station building actually faced south. As you can see, there was a large carriage porch (similar to Bandra Stn.) in the middle, and a tower with a pitched roof at the left. The station had waiting rooms, open ticket counters and certain offices.
It had platforms, 500 ft long, and a brick wall was built on the Wodehouse road side (west), to shelter passengers from the rains. The station was illuminated with incandescent gas light burners during both day and night. Interestingly, principal columns, and a large portion of the other ironworks for the station and platform buildings were formed out of old tracks. (like the platform roof pillars of Bandra station, which are made of rails dating to 1888!)
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| Colaba Terminus Yard, and a local train departing... Due Credits: Western Railway |
Above is another beautiful image, that I could stare at for several minutes at a stretch. It shows a local train departing from the station, showing both the station sidings (at the left and right of the image) and the station's platform sheds (visible at top right).
Well, the station continued to be functional for several more years, and in 1920s, was even remodelled significantly.
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| A diagram of the remodelling scheme (which I originally made for Wikipedia) |
During the era of electrification (the 1920s), even the Churchgate-Colaba section was electrified. Colaba Terminus also held the inaugural run of the legendary Frontier Mail (today, Golden Temple Mail) on 1st September 1928, a train known to be so punctual, that it was said that "Your Rolex could let you down, but not the Frontier Mail."
However, by now it was well known that Colaba Station was to go. The government had asked the BB&CIR in 1920 to handover the plot of the line from Churchgate to Colaba, as it was apparently a hindrance to a new reclamation project. Bombay Terminus was therefore built quickly enough to replace Colaba, and it was opened to traffic on 18th December 1930. The last train left the terminus at Colaba on the night of 31st December 1930, and the line to Colaba was officially closed on the New Year's Day of 1931.
Regardless of this rather queer end, Colaba, in its 58 years as a station of the BB&CIR, proved to be a crucial terminus for the railway. Once being used to transport both cotton and passengers, this station survived the various phases of modernisation, and itself supported it. Although this wonderful station did not survive into the present times, during its time it was one of its own, and one with several stories to its name.
Thanks for the Scroll!
