CSMT Railway Station To Get Free Library Inspired By Churchgate's 'Library Junction'

Mumbai: After receiving a strong response to its free ‘Library Junction’ at Churchgate station, Project Mumbai is now preparing to extend the initiative to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), offering commuters access to books at no cost while they wait or travel. The process to set up a similar facility at the Central Railway terminus is currently underway, senior railway officials said.

The Library Junction at Churchgate was launched on June 5, 2026. According to data available till August 12, as many as 1,190 commuters have registered with the library and around 1,500 books have been issued. Nearly 950 books are currently with readers, including around 200 books that do not carry barcodes. The library is adding an average of 20-25 new readers every day, while around 100-200 commuters and readers visit the facility daily.

The initiative is aimed at encouraging reading and helping commuters make better use of the time spent waiting at stations or travelling. The books cover a range of subjects, allowing passengers to choose material according to their interests. No fee is charged for borrowing books for reading.

The response at Churchgate has prompted plans to introduce the facility at CSMT, one of Mumbai’s busiest railway stations. The move is expected to make books more accessible to a larger number of suburban and long-distance commuters and encourage reading as part of their daily travel routine.

The CSMT initiative is being planned in coordination with Project Mumbai and the railway authorities. While details regarding the launch date and size of the facility are yet to be announced, officials said the process has already begun.

The experiment at Churchgate has also shown that there is demand for such initiatives at busy transport hubs, where passengers often have waiting time between trains. With CSMT handling a large volume of daily passengers, the new library could give the reading initiative a significantly wider reach.

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