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Charni Road
Mumbai Suburban Railway station
General information
Coordinates18°57′06″N 72°49′07″E / 18.951565°N 72.818633°E / 18.951565; 72.818633
Owned byMinistry of Railways, Indian Railways
Line(s)Western Line
Platforms4
Tracks4
Construction
Structure typeStandard on-ground station
Other information
Station codeCYR
Fare zoneWestern Railways
History
Opened1867
Services
Preceding station Mumbai Suburban Railway Following station
Marine Lines
towards Churchgate
 Western line Grant Road
towards Dahanu Road
Location
Charni Road is located in Mumbai
Charni Road
Charni Road
Location within Mumbai

Charni Road (formerly Churney Road, station code: CYR)[1] is a railway station on the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It serves the suburb of Charni Road. The next station south is Marine Lines Station; the next station north is Grant Road Station. The main significance of Charni Road station is that it is near the Girgaum Chowpatty beach and Marine Drive promenade, a major destination for tourists in Mumbai. It is also important because of the diamond trading industry located here, mainly in the Panchratna and Prasad chambers building near the railway station.

Charni Road eastern entrance

The word 'Charni' is derived from the Marathi word 'Charne' (to graze), as the area was once used as a grazing ground for cattle and horses.[2] In 1838, the British rulers introduced a 'grazing fee' which several cattle-owners could not afford.[citation needed] Therefore, Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy spent ₹20,000 from his own purse for purchasing some grasslands near the seafront at Thakurdwar and saw that the starving cattle grazed without a fee in that area.[citation needed] In time the area became known as "Charni" meaning grazing. When a railway station on the BB&CI railway was constructed there it was called Charni Road. The BB&CI line from Back Bay to Virar opened in 1867.[3]

There have also been some controversies during its renovation.[4]

Today Charni road is well known for its old charm Chawls, wholesale markets of diamonds (Opera House), garments, Irani cafés traditional Maharashtrian culture (Girgaon) and also tall skyscrapers. It is not only famous for skyscrapers and chowpatty but also attracts crowds because of the religious places built in it (Mumbadevi temple) and also the famous celebration of Gudipadva and Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Girgaon. Also the famous Hinduja College of commerce and economics have been set up by Hinduja group in 1974.

For information about the area, see Charni Road.

References

  1. ^ D'Cunha, Jose Gerson (1900). "IV The Portuguese Period". The Origins of Bombay (3 ed.). Bombay: Asian Educational Services. p. 212. ISBN 81-206-0815-1. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  2. ^ "As recent demands in Mumbai show, battles over station names never seem to end". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  3. ^ Eastern Economist. Vol. 64. R.P. Agarwala. 1975. p. 170.
  4. ^ "Tile construction". Mid Day.
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