Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station in Tamil Nadu, with 57 letters, missed the honour of having the longest railway station name by just an alphabet. ‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch’ in Wales, with 58 letters, still continues to be on record for having the longest railway station name by just a whisker.
Earlier, the honour for the longest station name in India belonged to Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta in Andhra Pradesh. The honour now belongs to Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station or as most citizens call it Chennai Central. The Chennai central railway station was renamed on April 5, 2019, after the legendary actor and politician of Tamil Nadu. About two decades earlier, it was known as Madras Central. The IRCTC website shows the station code as MAS.
The second longest railway station name in the country now is perhaps Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna Bengaluru City or as travellers call it Bengaluru The station was renamed in 2015 to honour the soldier of a princely State who fought against the British.
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The third longest name of an Indian railway station is Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, which has 33 letters. The station was renamed in 2017 by adding the word Maharaj, but most Mumbaikars still call it VT. Both Chennai and Mumbai railway stations have undergone three rounds of renaming so far.