Anchoring a City Line 1899-1999. The history of the western suburban railway and its headquarters in Bombay BOMBAY SHELF

In 1999 the W Railway headquarters building at Churchgate in South Bombay celebrated 100 years of its existence. The coming of the line- the Bombay, Baroda & Central Indian Railway, now the Western Railway – resulted in a complete transformation not only of the island city but more evidently also if these suburban areas and finally in the way that they were connected and coalesce together to form the metropolis of Bombay.
Although many perceive the grade I heritage bldg. as an important landmark on the city’s skyline, on account of its location at a busy intersection. It is often passed by unnoticed in the waves of humanity that has come to characterise the Churchgate station area. Through its history, however, this edifice has evolved as an important icon of the railways in the city – an instrument that ahs in many ways fuelled Bombay’s commercial, industrial, financial, social and cultural life and history. This building has served as a visual or symbolic anchor to the north-south lifeline of the city – a lifeline that has literally structured the shape, patterns of growth and the very sense of mobility in the city, in fact the western railways over time has welded together the entire metropolis of greater Bombay.

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