Book on Mumbai railway takes readers on nostalgia trip

A book on Mumbai railway, the ground zero of Indian Railways, is taking readers down the memory lane as it reveals interesting facets of railway stations like the famous Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
The book 'Halt Station India', published by Rupa Publications and authored by senior journalist Rajendra Aklekar, has foreword by former BBC journalist Sir Mark Tully. It was released by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu here last month.
It is the story of how the rail track in Mumbai came to become India's first railway line and expanded to ferry seven million passengers today.
"The book tells the story of each station and the relics of that glorious era that are still lying around at those stations. It's the story of Bombay railway...The lifeline of now Mumbai city," Aklekar told PTI.

"'Halt Station India' chronicles the dramatic rise of India's original rail network, the arrival of the first train, and the subsequent emergence of a pioneering electric line -all in the port city of Bombay. Trains that once provoked awe and fear - they were viewed as fire chariots, smoke-spewing demons - have today become a nation's lifeblood," he said.
Taking a walk along India's first rail lines, the author stumbled upon fragments of the past - a clock at Victoria Terminus (now known as CST) that offers a rare view of a city, a cannon near Masjid Bunder station that is worshipped as God, and a watch tower overlooking Sion station believed to have housed a witch.

Each pit-stop comes with stories of desire and war, ambition and death. By Dockyard Road station, for instance, author Laurence Sterne's beloved Eliza Draper followed a sailor into the sea; or close to Parel station, the wife of India's then Governor General Lord Canning found a garden rich in tropical vegetation.