Battali Railway Station

Battali Railway Station The city railway terminus in Chittagong is known as the Battali Station. The Agent and Chief Engineer of the Assam Bengal Railway signed the drawing of its two-storied old building on 07 November 1896. This plan accommodated business spaces of the station on the ground floor and the Station Master's Quarters on the first floor. The Station Master's Quarter was provided in the central portion of the first floor with flanking open terrace and separate cook and servant's lodges at either end.

The fa'ade of the building is adorned with many majestic and elegant architectural elements. The carriage porch has a half-octagonal engaged turret capped with cupola and metal finial containing the spiral stairs to the Station Master's Quarters. A stepped buttress also supports the turret. The porch provides a cozy landing space meant for the upper class passengers embellished with four centered Gothic arches on the east and west and stilted one each on the either side of the turret. There are separate menial stairs on the northeast and northwest corners of the building through two round engaged turrets capped with cupolas and metal finials with stepped buttress support. This building core was later on renovated and extended more than once, but recently become a best example of architectural conservation in Bangladesh. The Battali Railway Station is still in use. [Shamsul Hossain]