End Of An Era: Mumbai To Lose Iconic Wheeler Bookstalls As Railways Plans Phase-Out

If you often travel on Mumbai’s Western Railway, you must be familiar with the iconic Wheeler stall. Now, after being iconic book stalls for centuries, Indian Railways is all set to shed the Wheeler Book Stall of the Western Railway Network, marking the end of a century-old legacy. Read on to know more about it.

Mumbai Railways To Shed Wheeler Book Stall

As per a report by Mid-Day, Indian Railways will let go of its connection to Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling, as most of its popular Wheeler bookstalls are all set to disappear from Mumbai’s Western Railway stations. The only good news? Western Railways has decided to preserve a Wheeler stall at Mumbai Central Terminus station, which retains its original design. An official informed the portal and said that almost all the Wheeler stalls in Mumbai are just cubicles. The original design remains intact only at the Mumbai Central stall. The authorities will not touch that stall and will repurpose the structure.

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The stalls are known for selling newspapers and affordable books and have been a part of the Western Railway Network culture. For generations, Wheeler stalls have been helping cultivate a reading habit in commuters, and more than just retail stalls, they were the main hotspots for affordable literature.

Their presence on platforms became synonymous with railway travel itself. Back in 2021, the book stall was converted into multi-purpose stalls under a revised model. According to the news portal, a communication issued by Western Railway’s Mumbai division has confirmed that the five-year contract for 55 MPS will conclude on March 31, 2026.

More About The Wheeler Book Stall

The Wheeler Book Stall chain was founded by Emile Moreau, TK Banerjee, Arthur Henry Wheeler, Arthur Lisle Wheeler, WM Rudge, and Armenian Tigran Ratheus David in Prayagraj in 1877. Wheeler Book Stalls’ headquarters is in Allahabad, with bookshops spreading across hundreds of railway stations, especially in the north and east. The book stall was once the premier bookstore chain on Indian Railways, boasting 258 locations by 2004.

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