Inaugurated on January 25, 1925, the architectural marvel stands on the land donated by the then ruler of Khairagarh. The Walu stones used in the building were brought from Borgaon and Patkhakheri quarries about 48 km away from the city, and timber used in the interiors was sourced from forests near Chandrapur. 

 

The iconic building of Nagpur Railway Station completed a century of its existence, and stands testimony to changes in the city in past 100 years. Built by Britishers as part of expansion of erstwhile Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) railway services, the new station building was inaugurated on January 15, 1925. The sandstone — Walua — used for construction of the building that provides it a majestic look was sourced from Saoner and the land for the station was donated by the then ruler of Khairagarh to British Government at a nominal rate of Re 1. About 30 acres of land was donated by the King. As per the information published in GIP Railway Magazine, the stone used in construction of Nagpur Railway Station was brought from the Borgaon and Patkhakheri quarries about 48 km away from city. Timber was used judiciously and the same was sourced from the forests near Chandrapur.

 

 

The station building architecture resembles English classic style. An old Government Post office near the station was converted into waiting shed for the then Class III passengers. The original station building underwent extensive remodelling to fit the demands of modern times. At present, the station premise has floor area of 7,200 sq ft as post-independence, the extension was added to station building, particularly on Western side, and efforts were made to gel it with the old station building. Another portion was then added on the Itarsi end, but it was completely different and more of modern construction style, shedding use of stones that was predominant in earlier times. While the Nagpur Division is more older than the station building, the Nagpur Railway Station was earlier housed near Model Mills, at banks of Gandhi Sagar lake, then known as Jumma Talao.

 

The design of station building was done Architect C B Reid but major changes were carried out later by Wilson, his influence was much larger on the present building. The then Governor of Central Provinces, His Excellency Sir Frank Sly, inaugurated the new Nagpur Railway Station building. Since its inauguration, the sandstone sculpture hardly required any major maintenance, barring once when stone-washing was carried out a few years earlier to remove the dark circles that got formed due to pollution on the exterior. As per old records, Nagpur Railway Station present site was identified as part of expansion as the then railway station area was falling short of requirements. The construction got nod from the British establishment in year in 1913 and as World War-I started in 1914, the funds required dried-up and that interrupted the work.

 

The railway station at present is land locked now may be located in central part, but when the Britishers narrowed down on the site there was nothing in this part of the city. The station is spread across an area of 4,500 ft x 990 ft and the old Santra Market overbridge, it was constructed simultaneously, bisected the two sides of the station building. A budget of Rs 69.61 lakh was first earmarked for the new station building plus laying of tracks and other aspects related to operation of trains. Factoring in the delay the final cost of the project was revised to Rs 106.94 lakh. However, the cost of construction of new station building cost only Rs 4.50 lakh. The Britishers also simultaneously opened a new goods yard at Ajni while Nagpur was earmarked for passenger movement and later a local goods arrangement transport section was also opened here.

 

 

IN the centenary year, the old walua stone building of Nagpur Railway Station now is eclipsed from the road as it is undergoing redevelopment as part of enhancement of passenger amenities. The work is being carried out by Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) at cost of Rs 488 crore. For increasing the parking lot and ease entry and exit from the popular Western side of Nagpur Railway station, an elevated corridor is planned and that is coming ahead of the station building. Currently due to ongoing development work, the station is hardly visible from the road. Nagpur Railway Station is strategically located on axis of New Delhi-Chennai Grand Trunk route and Howrah-Mumbai rail corridor and being centrally situation, it is equi distance from all four metros of the country. A major point that distinguishes Nagpur Yard over Indian Railways is presence of double diamond crossing allowing criss-cross of North-South and East-West trains at heart of the country. As of now, Nagpur station handles 283 trains, of which 96 trains are either originating or termination, and has average footfall of 64,500 plus travellers daily.