by datta Nighut 
1. Introduction to Dadar Railway Station
Dadar Railway Station, located in the heart of Mumbai, holds historical significance, particularly following the Great Bombay Fire, which prompted the need for improved transport infrastructure. This event caused the Fort area to shift eastward, intensifying the connectivity issues with the city’s western suburbs. To prevent urban decay and retain the interest of the eastern populace, timely modernization of railway services became essential. Today, Dadar serves as a major railway hub as it connects both the Central and Western railway lines, handling a substantial number of commuters daily.
It also functions as a starting point for certain new railway lines and as a terminus for others within the suburban network. Over the last century, the population growth of Bombay has paralleled the development of its rail transport, positioning the city as a leading metropolis in Asia. As demands for expansion arose, new railway routes were established, extending toward the north, necessitating efficient stations like Dadar to accommodate the influx of traffic, particularly emergency services from Victoria Terminus. Interestingly, despite these developments, Dadar was not listed in the railway directory of 1886 and remained a village with a population of merely 1,493 until the 1920 census. Over time, Dadar Railway Station evolved into a key terminus and transportation hub, regaining its status with various modes of conveyance from the GIP Railway era. Presently, the local suburban railway services, which have expanded to Panvel since 1962 and Khopoli from Kurla in 1976, are vital for everyday commuters, emphasizing the ongoing significance of Dadar in Mumbai’s transportation network.
2. Historical Development and Importance
Dadar Railway Station is a very important suburban railway station in Mumbai city. Historically, Dadar, along with Bandra, was the eastern and the official limit of Jayaji’s land grant of 1674 A.D. to his mother Rukhmai, while Thane was its western limit.
Dadar, as a railway station that lies at the heart of Mumbai, has been historically designated in the first suburban timetable of 1929 A.D. Designed at the end of the 19th century to primarily serve as an urban commuter station, Dadar has played a key role when Maharashtra was struggling for independence from the 1930s to 1947. Before that, it was also used by prominent leaders to fulfill the social commitment for social awakening existing in society. Dadar has been a major stop for the modernization of visual and performing arts, sports, along with educational and research institutions. Physically, it has grown into an urban node of the city. Today, Dadar, Shivaji Park, Hindu Colony, Parsi Colony, Five Gardens, Portuguese buildings, and, more importantly, the Dadar railway station has become an emblem of Mumbai, or maybe for India.
Greater Mumbai, comprising Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban, is spread over an area of about 37.86 km. Together with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Dadar is the focal center and locational indicator of Mumbai city. The Central Municipal Zone of Mumbai is served by four major stations: Mahim, Matunga, Dadar, and Sewri (also proposed). Dadar is the only station that caters to both the western and central railways and is the main interchange point from which the suburban central line starts.
The eastern states and cities are major reasons for the overdevelopment and population pressure in Dadar railway station. It is the busiest station and has to cope with the highest number of passengers in the morning and evening, as these are rush hours. Keeping all these points in view, Dadar was initially to be developed as the principal suburban station of the city. However, the railway policy, affected by World War II, made it necessary for the Central Railways and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway in 1952 to divert or terminate their long trekking lines in South India through Bombay. To cope with the ever-expanding passenger and goods traffic, Dadar, with its measly 400,000 population at that time, has now become the third most vital terminus in Bombay with the construction of a multimodal rail-road terminus and a yard in 1965, with its completion in 1971.
3. Architectural Features and Design
Historical Significance and Evolution
The most striking component of the elaborate elevation is the huge rounded arched entrance of the main building with chhajja and profuse voussoirs and keystones, crowned by a pediment displaying the engraved national emblem. The Dadar Terminus hall has a concourse that rises from the principal level of the station, indicated by 20 stairs on both sides, which are separated from the ground beneath by a circular block verandah in neoclassicism with spire-fountains that are undistinguishable from those looming over in lobbies of colonial British buildings in India. The hall is capped with a polygonal Anglo-Saracenic domed roof through ventilating louvers.
The porches of Dadar Central Terminus, with their Doric styled columns, were developed in the 1925–1929 period, a time when the Railway Station catered to around 120,000 passengers per day. A platform indicates the evolution of the station from a basic stop without buildings or facilities.
The colossal building actually houses the ticket window, parcels room, first-class refreshment room, and much more while the firm mass responds with emergent volume as grand waiting areas and configurations of the site sit grounded.
The chambers of the rail vigilance department have a hint of the exotic Moorish style. Large waiting halls in deep recessed arches are the distinctive form of revival. The advent of electricity in the 1920s replaced the hazy gas lights with modern electric lighting. A colonial design with modern construction is evident in the results. Over the years, the building has undergone a good deal of renovation, and the front porches and repetition of the central part as the side bays have been built to endure.
The “somewhat weather-beaten look” of the building in 1926 is due to discrepancies between the main building sign and the side structures. After 82 years, a large-scale restoration work was undertaken to retain colonial-style details. Art that will restore the air-conditioned waiting rooms, a cupola above the Terminus Hall, clock room, lounge for VVIPs, and guardroom are also amongst the cognitive aspects of an epoch designed within the Terminus building phase.
4. Modernization and Future Plans
Modernization and Future Plans: Dadar Railway Station is part of an ambitious project that involves technological interventions to allow for the operation of a maximum number of services from a station. Wi-Fi spots, IBMS, and CCTV are some of the advanced electronic systems used at the station to enhance customer service and security surveillance. A number of projects are planned to improve the infrastructure and capacity of stations such as Redevelopment of Stations, LHS, OHE Upgradation, yard remodeling, quality doubling, etc. The future plans regarding the development and modernization of the station are given below.
Rebuilding of platforms at Dadar Railway Station. The age-old signaling system in and around Dadar Station with cutting-edge technology is going to be replaced when the corridor witnesses its first 12-hour mega block today. Central Railway is pressurizing the Konkan Railway Corporation to complete the signaling system work as soon as possible to ensure smooth train operations on the stretch. The corridor will be the first on the Indian Railway to have the train protection and warning system and a track management system with electronic interlocking. This will improve train operation and control the movement of trains with the click of a button.
Dadar Railway Station is one of the earliest stations in Mumbai and part of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. In 2016, the proposal was made to modernize the existing Dadar Railway Complex (with bungalow area). It plans to have fully assembled at-grade elevated decks. The proposed decks will have an elevated station (at +11.8 m above ground level) with a connection to the Skywalk and Road Transport Deck. Needless to say, the modernization process of this station would face several major constraints over funding and maintenance of historical property. The decision has been made to provide information for its modernization plans, capacities, and constraints related to the goals by organizing a march around the area of the station, creating awareness about the development of the site among the local residents and stakeholders. A people’s traffic planning workshop can be organized using creative workshops for a variety of age groups. The ideas that come in at such workshops about existing and anticipated problems can provide valuable insights into the plan-making process and save time in trial and error methods.
5. Impact on Local Community and Economy
Dadar has always been a center of economic, political, social, and religious activities and has retained its prime importance since ancient and medieval times. The etymology of the name has been derived from bazaar-geh-da, the same meaning as bazaar may get. This was an important township on the road from Sopara to Nasik, which converged at Thane with the old trade route to the Deccan by crossing the Thal or the Dhoki ferry. By 1728, Dadar had become an important business center. The Deccan used to be reached either via Kolepur, a railway station near Sandhurst Road, or via Kurla, which was the terminus of the Bombay Saurashtra Railway. From Kurla, people would reach Dadar by road. The terminus at Kurla was being shifted to Kalachowkie to make it more convenient for natives from the western suburbs.
The shifting of the terminus to Dadar facilitated ease in commuting. Travelers from places in the south Konkan region had direct trains to Dadar. Thus, Dadar soon emerged as a vital, accessible, and reliable transportation link for many, just like in the present day. Thousands of people across the communities would travel to work in the city. This indeed was the beginning of the city migrating beyond the confines of the Fort area. The increasing traffic led to the growth of local service providers such as shops and eateries, accommodations, etc.
The development of properties developed along the boundaries of the station. The surrounding areas have witnessed significant transformations in socio-economic life. Accessibility has always been an important driving factor in any community development and land use decisions. Large areas of these shrunken suburban plots are also being fragmented into smaller sub-units. Crowded conditions and overuse of infrastructure have strained the existing civic and transportation developments of the city. This has both advantages and disadvantages. It has facilitated them to avail themselves of good education and betterment in life.
6. Are DDR and DR the same station?
The name “Dadar” has been seen to be applied to both the station that is now called DR and the one that is called DDR today. However, there is no similarity other than the name between the current stations DR and DDR. While DDR used to serve as the point where the Colaba depot met the main line, DR used to serve as the station before that on the main line. In other words, DR used to serve the entire early network, whereas DDR used to serve as that of the other line. If one follows the timeline of the above-mentioned mergers, one will notice that before the mergers, in reality, the actual point where the two lines met was located a few meters south of DDR. Namely, two railroads’ lines crossed just before they reached the other’s station. That is why there weren’t any tracks laid between the Colaba depot and the other lines after that junction.
Furthermore, steam railroads had a turntable at every station in order to allow trains to turn around in the absence of a reversing mechanism. However, although we know that the station had a turntable, we never had any information for two turntables before. Not knowing where this information came from, we assumed that there was no link between the routes on that, and after that DDR was created and the turntable was relocated there. When we compared several regions of competitive companies while researching another subject, we saw that there were two turntables inside DDR during the competition. During that period of time, we did not have any evidence to show that the lines were together at that station, so we assumed that there weren’t any, and subsequently, we were hesitant to update.
7. What is Dadar TT full form?
Dadar is split into East and West by the railway line. The area known as Dadar East is commonly referred to as Dadar Central or Dadar T.T. This name stems from the location of the former Dadar Tram Terminus, which was situated here before the tram network in Mumbai was discontinued.
8.Which railway station is closest to Siddhivinayak Temple?
Which railway station is closest to Siddhivinayak Temple? One of Mumbai’s oldest railway stations, Dadar is located in a heterogeneous suburb. This atmosphere around the station is a result of the cross-migrations of people over the years and makes this neighborhood even more cheerful and vibrant. Apart from local train services running to various destinations in Mumbai, long-distance trains also started running from Mumbai to Pune way back in 1863. Dadar is also a prominent railway station. Dadar station is used not only by the suburbs but also by the residents from the central and town areas of Mumbai. Visitors to Siddhivinayak Temple can directly travel from Dadar station, located at a walking distance of 15 minutes. So the nearest station to Siddhivinayak is Dadar. It is a world-famous temple and one of the richest temples in the city. Although the queue appears to be long, it moves swiftly. The temple authorities deserve a compliment for ushering in the devotees in an organized fashion. The temple is open for darshan at about 8:30 AM each morning.
9.Is Dadar Central and Dadar Western different?
Dadar Central and Dadar Western are two highly popular and densely used railway stations in the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. These stations were built separately and belonged to different railway companies. Geographically, these two stations are located exactly next to each other with no apparent demarcation between them. However, there is indeed a difference. Though Dadar Central, as well as Dadar Western, are situated very close to each other and are interconnected through a foot overbridge, they differ in their administrative and operational organization. The motorman or guard of Central Railway cannot operate the services of Western Railway and will require additionally qualified guard and motorman for Dadar Western operations. Though there is this change, the authorities from both these stations work together as one team. In spite of the challenges of unorganized, warring commuters and chaotic lines, the railway authorities of these two stations coordinate their efforts to provide railway services par excellence. This requires a stringent and disciplined infrastructure with a cooperative culture and the dedication and skill of the staff. The railway authorities here have proven this possible by providing excellent services for the passengers that travel through these two very busy stations. These stations handle thousands of commuters daily during peak hours.
10.Why is Dadar railway station termed as Dadar Terminus when it is not a terminating railway station?
The theme is rich in ambiguity. Dadar Railway Station’s name has historical significance from the 19th century when it was merely a collection of platforms in the gardens of affluent Bombay residents amidst dense forests. It had no status as a railway anything, be it capital or terminus. Records indicate the British Railway Company forcibly acquired land from the natives, rather than negotiating fair prices. The stations’ names reflect a plan to connect Bombay’s islands, including Bori Bunder, later Victoria Terminus, to attract labor via train. The name “Dadar Railway Terminus” is a historical relic. It is odd since Dadar isn’t even a terminating station—it sits between northern and southern railway stations. The name endures from when the Western Line of Indian Railways concluded at Dadar before the present Western Terminus was built in 1930 during Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha march. The name was preserved out of respect for Dadar’s historical significance. Dadar’s TAN includes words like tendra, Lord, father, king, fish, and give.
