Few takers for CST heritage walk

Only 1,730 people have visited the world heritage monument since its inauguration in December, generating a revenue of just under Rs 3 lakh

Thousands of people rub shoulders and navigate their way through the busy platforms at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) every day, making it one of the city’s busiest stations in the city.

Walk through history: The heritage walk allows visitors a peek into the history of the railways in Mumbai. It also has other antiques, photographs and other memorabilia on display. Pics/Bipin Kokate

But when it comes to the main heritage building -- which was restricted to the public till December -- it seems that the city’s only world heritage monument has lost its sheen as, only 1,730 people have visited the structure till July this year.

The building, which houses several heritage structures, was thrown open to the public in December 2012. But, in the last six months or so, only 1,730 people have visited the building, generating Rs 2.93 lakh for the authorities.

Confirming the drop in visitors, a Central Railway (CR) official said, “There has been a drop in the number of visitors for the heritage walk at the CST building.”

The appeal of the heritage walk has decreased among the public. At the time of the inauguration, 93 people had visited the building.

It later gathered more steam in January with a high of 704 people generating revenue of Rs 1.22 lakh. However, from then it has been a downward spiral with June only seeing 57 visitors.

“We are looking at the option of collaborating with tour operators to attract more people,” said Atul Rane, chief PRO, CR, adding that they were even mulling private tours to garner more visits to the structure.

704
Number of people who visited CST in January

Rs 1.22 lakh
Revenue generated from heritage walks in January

57
Number of people who visited in June

Rs 200
The cost of the heritage walk

History first hand
Apart from providing insights into the architecture and history of the building, artistic gargoyles, the relevance of the star chamber, black and white photographs of the railways, semi-coiled stone staircases, and the heritage museum where old clocks, telephones and old communication systems are on display. u00a0

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