Track record

Here’s your return ticket to Mumbai’s Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus. This time to make tracks for the quieter, historic corridors of the Unesco World Heritage Site’s ‘Headquarters Building’. Away from the public eye so far—apparently since it was built 125 years ago—the administrative wing of one of the busiest and oldest stations in the country has now opened the doors to a heritage gallery of railway paraphernalia, some from the coffers of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR). A magnificent staircase and an imposing domed ceiling—markers of the building’s Victorian Gothic Revival architectural style—also invite closer inspection. Add to that a bird’s-eye view of the busy ticketing counters below, and you have more than enough to fill the short two-hour window (3–5pm on weekdays) afforded by your Rs 200 ticket (Rs 100 for students). Chug along then to Mumbai.