Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Victoria Terminus)

On 16 April 1853, India's first passenger train left from here, from Bori Bunder station. It covered some 34 kilometres to Thane, hauled by three locomotives. That journey changed the city's destiny: cotton from the interior began arriving at the port by rail, and Bombay became the commercial gateway of the subcontinent.

1A palace for trains

The little station was soon too small. Between 1878 and 1887 the architect Frederick William Stevens raised this building, a blend of Venetian Gothic and Indian elements. It was finished in Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee year, and so it was named Victoria Terminus. On top of the dome, a female figure with a torch represents Progress. In 1996 it was renamed after Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha kingdom, and in 2017 the title Maharaj was added. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 2004.

2The city's heartbeat

Today millions of passengers pass through, between long-distance trains and the locals, the suburban trains that are Mumbai's backbone. If you use them, avoid the rush hours and look out for the carriages reserved for women. On the night of 26 November 2008, the great concourse was one of the scenes of the attacks that shook the city; 58 people were killed here.

A station designed like a cathedral, for an empire that believed in the progress of steam.

3What to look for

• The statue of Progress on top of the dome.
• The stone lion and tiger flanking the main gates.
• The gargoyles and carvings of animals and plants around arches and windows.