5 Popular Railway Stations Named After Churches in India

Nomenclature of places are very significant as every name is derived on account of certain reason attached to it. You might not even believe that some of the railway stations have such a humorous names which will make you burst out of laughter. Can you imagine a station to be named as “BHAINSA”? Yes, it actually exists in India. Apart from this, certain railway stations have also been named after popular churches. Railrecipe brings to you the list of railway stations whose names have been derived from popular churches.

1. Churchgate- Maharashtra (Code- CCG)- A very important station in the western line of Mumbai Suburban Railways which is thronged with travelers all day long. This was not the case in initial days. When the station was constructed, during the mid 19th century, Mumbai was still a walled city. It was bordered by three main gates.This gate served as an entry to the St. Thomas Cathedral. And obviously, the Britishers chose a land very close to the St. Thomas Cathedral as a spot for the railway station. During the days of Mass or on Christmas or New Year’s eve there would be special trains run to Churchgate. The passengers would simply get down from the train, take a few strides and walk into the church to pay their homage.
2.  Divine Nagar- Kerala (Code- DINR)- it has been named after the most popular landmark of the area – Divine Retreat Center. Apart from being immensely popular among the locals, Divine Retreat Center is also the largest Catholic retreat center in the world! Its popularity can be judged from the fact that more than 10 million pilgrims from all over the world have attended retreats here in the last two decades. Before this railway station was constructed, the pilgrims would have to get down at Chalakudy station and travel more than 3 KM to reach the retreat. So, the retreat authorities approached Indian railways to build a railway station nearby and it was soon opened in 1996. Even today, the maintenance and operations of this railway station are largely managed by the Divine Retreat Center.
3. SION- Maharashtra (Code- SIN)- Sion was once situated along the borderline between the British and Portuguese controlled areas of Maharastra. And the present area around which the Sion railway station stands was controlled by the Portuguese. The Portuguese General of the area allocated a land over a hill for the purpose of building this church. And as is logical, for a church on a hilltop, the church was named Zion Church. The locales found ‘Zion’ too hard to pronounce and it became Sion in local dialect. Later on, Indian railways took up the land and decided to build the railway station at the exact site of the church. This is the whole story behind this station.
4. Nazareth- Tamil Nadu (Code- NZT)- Christian missionaries settled in this town during late 17th century. Local people welcomed the missionaries by quickly adopting the Christian faith. As a result the town was soon dotted with Churches. This motivated the missionaries so much that they decided to name this small town in Tamil Nadu after the city where Jesus spent his early life – Nazareth. Even today, Nazareth railway station receives most footfalls on the eve of Christmas.
5. Santacruz- Maharashtra (STC)- The name was derived from a Portuguese word that signifies the ‘holy cross’. Once this suburb region had a popular Portuguese church known for its Holy Cross. But after the fortunes of the Portuguese dwindled in Maharastra, the church was replaced by another important facility – the Santa Cruz railway station. Built upon the church land, the area where the Holy Cross once stood lies on the Western side of this railway station.

Do you know any other station named after famous churches in India? Share it in comments below. Subscribe to our Railrecipe blog for such updates.