indian branch railway company
intuitively, branch lines are feeders. in 1862, the indian branch railway company was formed to construct branch and feeder lines .
1872 company formed with the assets of the indian branch railway company and the government guarantee and had its headquarters at lucknow .
east indian railway company taken over by the state on january 1; great indian peninsular railway taken over on june 30 .
indian railway standards renamed indian government railway standards. locomotive classification codes updated to include diesels and electrics .
nalhati - azimganj 4' gauge line built by the indian branch railway co .
indian branch rly. co. begins construction of lucknow - kanpur light mg line .
the indian branch railway company was formed in 1862 to build short branch and feeder lines. it received no guarantee but was offered a 20 - year subsidy. in the 1850s, it secured a guaranteed return .
the oudh and rohilkhand railway built the dufferin brige in 1883 with frederick thomas granville walton as chief engineer, and its line was connected to east indian railway company’s line at mughalsarai .
jolarpettai - bangalore cantt. branch added by madras railway; bangalore mail begins running .
the indian branch railway co. formed to construct short branches and feeder lines in northern india, with a 20 - year subsidy but no guarantee .
alambagh workshops set up by the oudh and rohilkhand rly. (formerly the indian branch rly. co .) .
hms goodwin carrying railway carriages for east indian railway co. sinks. another ship carrying a locomotive is mis - routed to australia .
1925 july 1st. the oudh and rohilkhand railway was merged into the east indian railway but the section of the cawnpore - burhwal railway was worked by the bengal and north western railway and was transferred to the oudh and tirhut railway on 1 january 1943 .
a petrol - driven 0 - 4 - 0 loco from kerr stuart is in use by the morvi railway and tramways company .
the railway reforms committee that recommended closure of 40 branch lines is one that goes back to 1983 .
the indian tramway co. is formed for building short lines around madras, also with a 20 - year subsidy. this suffered losses later, was reorganized to become the carnatic railway and finally was taken over by the south indian railway .
arakkonam - conjeevaram 3' 6
line built by the indian tramways co .
line was laid by indian railways from sasaram to arrah in 2006 - 07 .
they pandered to the ego. after independence, in 1969, there was a railway committee on uneconomic branch lines and we had some kind of definition of
branch line
.
gipr network becomes state property on july 1, but the company is allowed to continue operating the services .
april: msmr merged with the lines worked by the sir company, and taken over by the state .
pay point india has been authorized by indian railway catering & tourism corporation (irctc - indian railway) as a principle agent to appoint irctc agents across india. through pay point india' s platform these agents will be able to make online reservation ...
while the east indian railway operated on the southern side of the ganges, the oudh and rohilkhand railway operated in the plains of northern india, mostly north of the river .
sind (later sind, punjab and delhi) railway is formed, a guaranteed railway .
this is what the most recent (2013 - 14) indian railways year book states .
1888 the government of india took over the oudh and rohilkhand railway making it a state railway .
ir continues to mechanically use the expression
branch line
and once upon a time, ir had classifications of routes as mainline, suburban and branch line .
the 2 miles long metre gauge line from benares cant. to benares city was opened between 15 march to 1 april 1899 as the benares city branch of the oudh and rohilkhand railway. the oudh and rohilkhand railway was absorbed by the east indian railway on 1 july 1925 but this line was worked by the bengal and north western railway and its successors from opening and was transferred to the north eastern railway on 27 february 1953 .
powers of the railway board are formalized under lord curzon. the board is under the department of commerce and industry, and has government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from england and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members .
madras railway extends its network (with a new terminus at royapuram) to salem, and also finishes the jolarpettai - bangalore cantonment branch .
jul 1: the first train service in the south begins, from royapuram / veyasarapady (madras) to wallajah road (arcot) (approx. 100km) by the madras railway company .
madras railway' s trunk route from madras extended to beypur / kadalundi (near calicut). work begins on a north - western branch out of arakkonam .
stations are classified into 4 groups on some railways, according to traffic and the proportion of european and indian passengers .
w. newman & co. begins publishing the
newman' s indian bradshaw
for train timetables in india .
it is a branch line of howrah - amta line, which is now closed. the stations are
two new branches of the darjeeling himalayan railway opened to traffic. the kalimpong road (now gelkhola) branch followed the teesta valley (hence known as the teesta valley line) and the kishanganj branch (built in the preceding year, 1914) ran west - southwest of siliguri .
the 17 miles long burwhal - barabanki metre gauge line was opened 1 april 1872 as part of the bahramghat branch of the oudh and rohilkhand railway. upon conversion to mixed gauge, the metre gauge track formed part of the cawnpore - burhwal railway which was managed as part of the oudh and rohilkhand railway .
indian standard time (ist) comes into force for timekeeping in british india (except for calcutta and some other regions) .
indian railways (ir) will transfer existing assets at nominal values, invite bids and grant concessions for 10 - 15 years .
brahmaputra - sultanpur branch rly. opens mg line from santahar east (with a ferry section) to mymensingh .
the heritage value of the south branch house provincial historic site lies in its association with the hudson’s bay company and its late - eighteenth century inland expansion. after 100 years of operating from the shores of hudson bay, competitive pressure from montreal - based traders compelled the company to construct inland posts to be nearer the first nations that were supplying its furs. initial expansion efforts focused on the main and north branches of the saskatchewan river, with the first inland post built at cumberland house in 1774. in 1786, the company constructed south branch house, its first post on the south branch of the saskatchewan, a few kilometers upriver from two competitors’ posts built a year earlier. south branch house, located near a traditional first nations river ford later known as “gardepuy’s crossing, ” operated for six years, with its trade in bison products, used for provisioning company operations, at least as important as its fur trade. in 1794, a group of gros ventres, disgruntled with the company for supplying firearms to their enemy, the cree, attacked the poorly defended post. one company servant escaped. however, the post’s other occupants, including three hudson’s bay company employees, five or six women, and an unspecified number of children were killed. the post was burned in the incident and was never rebuilt. heritage value also resides in the site’s association with two later - to - be - famous hudson’s bay company employees. during its first season of operation, the post’s journal was kept by a young david thompson who would later become one of north america’s foremost pioneering geographers. another prominent explorer and cartographer, peter fidler, also performed clerical duties at the post for a time ca. 1789 / 90. source: province of saskatchewan, order in council 870 / 86, august 21, 1986 .
note: this site is not officially affiliated with indian railways! the official web site of indian railways is: urltoken site contact: webmaster @ urltoken copyright © 2010, irfca. org. about irfca contact us search this site site map links acknowledgements legal information & disclaimers
bnr takes over part of the east coast rly. lines (cuttack - vizianagaram, branch line to puri) .
that' s how many branch lines were built. with flexibility in fares and innovative marketing, many branch lines can be turned around, if they are taken outside ir. however, it helps to know what is being opened up .
the south branch house provincial historic site comprises a one hectare parcel of land on the right (east) bank of the south saskatchewan river, approximately 30 kilometres south of the city of prince albert. the property features the archaeological remains of a late eighteenth - century hudson’s bay company trading post .
branch lines are narrow gauge lines and those broad and metre gauge lines that join the main network only at one end .
metre gauge routes are classified as q, r and s. a branch line can thus be interpreted as narrow gauge, metre gauge or d and e categories of broad gauge, and uneconomic branch lines will be sub - categories of these .
the 4 miles long broad gauge line from burhwal to bahramghat was opened on 1 april 1872 opened as part of the bahramghat branch of the oudh and rohilkhand railway the line got closed around 1943 .
bnr' s satpura railway complete' s gondia - nainpur - jabalpur link .
two bg diesel shunters from william beardmore in use on the north western railway .
eastern bengal railway and the great southern of india formed (guaranteed railways) .
) wide narrow gauge railway line between azimganj and nalhati. the azimganj - nalhati line was taken over by the government in 1872, as nalhati state railway .
kaunia - dharlla mg line of east bengal railway extended to amingaon, where a ferry across the brahmaputra connected to the rail system of the assam bengal railway through guwahati .
bb & ci railway incorporated, and begins work on a surat - baroda line .
calcutta and south - eastern railway formed, with 5% guarantee from the government .
port canning - mutlah line opened by the calcutta & south - eastern r railway .
it established a railway workshop at alambagh in 1865 and another at charbagh in 1867 .
the oudh and rohilkhand railway built an extensive railway network in the east - north direction, mostly north of the ganges, starting from varanasi and subsequently up to delhi .
engines to haul trains along trunk routes and horses to haul trains along branch routes; the year was 1860 and this quote is from a monograph authored by charles burn on the construction of horse - railways. even then, it was recognised that branch lines might not be remunerative .
world war ii. railways under strain again. locomotives, wagons, and track material are taken from india to the middle east; 28 branch lines were completely cannibalized for this. railway workshops are used to manufacture shells and other military equipment. the entire railway system is in poor shape by the end of the war .
world war i places heavy strain on the railways. railway production is diverted to meet the needs of british forces outside india. at the end of the war indian railways are in a total state of dilapidation and disrepair. all services are downgraded or restricted .
the peninsular locomotive company is founded at jamshedpur for the purpose of building locomotives; this would have been the third loco manufacturing plant in india after ajmer and jamlpur, but unfortunately it failed even before it manufactured a single loco .
22 march: matheran light railway opens, with 4 articulated 0 - 6 - 0t locomotives .
bangalore - chikkaballapur light railway (2' 6
) opens the bangalore - yeshwantpur section .
railway finances separated from general finances in the general government budget after the first railway' convention'. railway board expanded to have a financial commissioner, a member in charge of ways, works, stores and projects, and a member in charge of administration, staff, and traffic .
first proposal for a railway in india, in madras. this remained a dream on paper .
calcutta and south - eastern railway' s 45km line from calcutta to port canning is constructed .
[ the railway is ] a triumph, to which, in comparison, all our victories in the east seem tame and commonplace. the opening of the great indian peninsular railway will be remembered by the natives of india when the battlefields of plassey, assaye, meanee, and goojerat have become landmarks of history .
( the overland telegraph and courier, april 1853 )
bukhtiarpur - bihar line of martin' s light railways was taken over by the local district board in 1950. this line was later taken over by indian railways in 1961 and replaced by
in the 1840s, when the first proposals for railways in india were being debated in great britain, there was intense lobbying in support of these proposals by banks, traders, shipping companies, and others who had a strong interest in seeing railways be formed in india. these supporters prevailed upon the british parliament to create the guarantee system, whereby any company that constructed railways in india was guaranteed a certain rate of interest on its capital investment. this guarantee was honoured by the east india company which then controlled large parts of india. the railways that were formed with such agreements governing them were called guaranteed railways. typically, the guarantee was for a return of 5% annually, and the right for the railway company to pull out of the venture and get compensation from the government at any time .
one hundred per cent private equity is permitted. the rolling stock will be owned and maintained by ir and private operators will have to pay track access charges to ir. at least for branch lines (and hill railways), private operations are, therefore, already part of accepted government policy. but what are branch lines ?
the azimganj - nalhati line was taken over by the government in 1872, as nalhati state railway .
the jamnagar and dwarka railway procures a single mg diesel loco for its saurashtra passenger service, from brookville .
as far as i can make out, at the turn of the century, there were 110 uneconomic branch lines - 44 broad gauge, 44 metre gauge and 22 narrow gauge .
despite the expression
branch line
being bandied around and even used in policy announcements, there is no longer a definition, unless one adheres to the 1983 classification of lines .
railway board decides that lavatories will be provided in all lower class carriages for trains running more than 50 miles .
commuters try cross railway tracks as trains wait at a suburban station in mumbai. photograph: danish siddiqui / reuters
there was also a double kind of definition of an uneconomic or unremunerative branch line - (a) it did not make profits; (b) it did not make profits more than the rate of dividend paid to the union government. note that if there is gauge conversion and switch from narrow to broad gauge, the number of branch lines (and uneconomic lines) declines .
despite concerted efforts to enhance earnings on branch lines, most of these lines remain commercially unviable. the railway reforms committee recommended closure of 40 such lines but due to stiff public resistance and opposition by state governments towards withdrawal of such services, only 15 lines have been closed permanently by the railways .
the railway board is reorganized with a chief commissioner of railways having overriding powers on technical matters. (1921? )
the martin' s light railway bridge over river kaushiki or kana - damodar at jagatballavpur, howrah. sep. 2014
the heritage value of the south branch house provincial historic site resides in the following character - defining elements: - elements associated with the hudson’s bay company occupation, including artifacts, an identified cellar depression with associated chimney mound, and any yet - to - be discovered structural remains, such as cellars and rubbish pits, remains of the palisade and other construction features; - the property’s siting in a grove of trees on the riverbank with an unobstructed view of the south saskatchewan river .
it extended its main line from moradabad to saharanpur in 1881 - 86 and a branch line was opened from lakhsar to haridwar in 1883. the lucknow - rae bareilly extension was completed in 1893 .
the first operational railway in india - the red hill railroad near madras, used for transporting granite stone. more here .
the spur from the north - west territories into afghanistan, the only railway line in afghanistan at this time, is dismantled .
khyber railway' s last section from landi kotal to landi khana, 2km short of the frontier with afghanistan, is opened .
a short experimental railway line is constructed at chintadripet, near madras, which later became the red hill railroad. more here .
sind and punjab railway' s multan - lahore - amritsar line is completed. works begins on line from delhi to amritsar .
bbci railway obtains permission to extend its lines southwards from surat, and opens its grant road terminus for its proposed line from surat .
calcutta and south - eastern railway, having suffered extensive losses on their sealdah - canning line because of floods and other problems, decide to transfer the line to the government in return for capital costs, becoming the first railway to be taken over by the state .
the main line of oudh and rohilkhand railway used to run from varanasi to saharanpur via lucknow, shahjahanpur, bareilly, chandausi and moradabad. with the opening of the bareilly - moradabad link via rampur in 1894, the main line distance was shortened and the route via chandausi came to be known as chandausi chord. a branch line linked it to aligarh .
in november 2014, the ministry of railways issued sectoral guidelines for domestic and foreign private investments in the railways, and this included renovation, operation and maintenance of stand - alone passenger corridors like branch lines and hill railways .
a railway is in operation near rajahmundry for conveying construction material and stone for irrigation works and a dam across the godavari. more here .
the new howrah - amta broad gauge line project, including the bargachia - champadanga branch line, was sanctioned in 1974 - 75. the first 24 - km stretch of the section from howrah to bargachia was completed in 1984 by
total trackage at 37, 000 miles (about 15% privately - held). the east india railway committee (chaired by sir william acworth, hence also known as the acworth committee) points out the need for unified management of the entire railway system. on the recommendations of this committee, the government takes over the actual management of all railways, and also separates railway finances from the general governmental finances (the latter step led to the practice, followed to this day, of presenting the railway budget separately from the general budget every year) .
nov. 9: kalka - shimla railway line opened, built at 2' 0
gauge (but relaid later, see below) .
south india rly. is engaged in ultimately abandoned attempt to build a direct railway between india and ceylon with a viaduct over the panban viaduct .
bowringpet - kolar 2' 6
line extended to chintamani / chikkaballapur (forming the kolar district rly .) by the mysore state railway .
november: sind, punjab, and delhi railway' s line towards amritsar from delhi (ghaziabad) is open for traffic up to ambala .
ng lines opened: parlakimedi light rly. from navpada (bnr); rajpur - dhamtari (bnr). planning begun for matheran light railway .
kalka - shimla railway regauged to 2' 6
gauge under guidelines from the war department seeking to ensure uniformity in all imperial narrow gauge systems .
bengal and north - western railway is taken over by the state, after being merged with the rohilkund and kumaon rly. , the mashrak - thane extension rly. , the lucknow - bareilly rly. , and the tirhut rly. the new railway is known as the oudh and tirhut rly .
sind and punjab railway is engaged in construction of a northward line from karachi, a lahore - multan line, and a lahore - delhi line .
khanderao, the gaekwar of baroda, opens 8 miles of an ng railway line from dabhoi towards miyagam. oxen were used as the motive power !
in 1902, lord curzon went on a visit to the area around lumding and had a conversation with the agent of the newly constructed railway line .
the jodhpur railway becomes the first to introduce electric lights as standard fixtures. (electric lighting had been tried by other railways starting in the 1890s. )
in 1845, a railway was built for carriage of stone and construction materials for irrigation works and a dam over the godavari near rajahmundry. more here .
ng lines: nainpur - chhindwara (bnr); howrah - tribeni (bengal provincial rly. co. , connecting to katwa line); gwalior light railway sections: gwalior - jora alapur (jan. 1), jora alapur - sabalgarh (dec. 1). construction begun on matheran light railway .
nwr procures two 1200hp diesel - electric locos from armstrong - whitworth with the intention of using them for a new bombay - karachi route. they were deployed on the karachi - lahore mail route, but then were withdrawn soon afterwards, having manifested many problems as they were not designed for indian conditions .
however, the bargachhia - champadanga branch line is yet to be completed. according to the reply to a parliamentary question in 2006, land to be provided free of cost by the state government as per memorandum of understanding, was still to be handed over .
madras mg suburban railway line completed. (( april 2 ?) may 11: tambaram - beach has electric traction). the first mg emu service .
the post of minister for transport and communications is created; the minister was a civil servant, and could decide on matters dealt with by the railway board .
the metre gauge railway track from rangia junction to murkongselek was closed in 2011 for conversion to broad gauge and is expected to be reopened in 2014 after conversion .
governor - general lord lawrence suggests that the government of india itself undertake all future construction of railway lines. but gipr' s guarantees and leases are extended, and also those of the bombay, baroda, and madras railway companies. still, this year marks a turning point in government policy away from the guarantee system .
we have commenced well in india, and if the system of trunk lines be judiciously carried out, they must prove most remunerative, and will no doubt become valuable property to the shareholders; but a beginning has already been made to construct expensive branch lines... .
pay point india has been recognized as a
worldwide achiever
by' time research group'. mr. ketan doshi (managing director) along with mr. sachin lokhande receives an award for business excellence and leadership from subhodh kant sahay (cabinet minister) and maninder jeet singh bitta (president - indian youth congress )
february 3: first electric railway operates on harbour branch of the gipr from victoria terminus to kurla (16 km), using 1500v dc overhead traction. the section is designated as a suburban section. emus from cammell laird and uerdingenwagonfabrik are used. in the same year electrification of vt - bandra is also completed and emu services begin there as well, with an elevated platform at sandhurst road. the gipr suburban line is later electrified up to kalyan .
sir thomas robertson committee submits recommendations on administration and working of the railways. an early version of the railway board is constituted, with three members serving on it at first .
governor - general lord dalhousie while advocating railway construction in india also says, & uot; no one can safely say whether railways in this country will earn or not
.
great southern railway of india completes 125km bg line between nagapatnam and trichinopoly. (? some sources suggest the line was till tanjore, and extended to trichinopoly by march 1862. )
after the closure of the light railway in 1970 there was a lot of debate about the future course of action. the proposal for revival as a broad gauge line was strongly backed by
july 11: a flash flood washes out portions of the tracks on the chappar rift of the sind peshin state railway (now in pakistan), and through running never resumes on this line .
lord dalhousie' s famous railway minute of april 20 lays down the policy that private enterprise would be allowed to build railways in india, but that their operation would be closely supervised by the government .
a review of the financial results of the existing 90 uneconomic branch lines for the year 2013 - 14 shows that, on an original investment on these lines of the order of rs 2, 617 crore or rs 26 billion, loss during the year 2013 - 14 amounted to rs 1, 681 crore or rs 17 billion .
a petrol - driven 0 - 4 - 9 loco is supplied to morvi railway and tramways by nasmyth wilson. a couple of thornycroft petrol - driven parcel delivery vehicles are also in use by the eir .
railway mileage now at about 24, 750 miles in india, of which 14, 000 miles are bg, and most of the rest mg (with only a few hundred miles of 2' and 2' 6
gauge lines) .
ng lines: barsi light railway extended until latur; champaner - shivrajpuri light rly. (later part of bb & ci); dehri - on - sone - rohtas (dehri - rohtas light rly .); bukhtiarpur - bihar rly. (martin & co .) .
ceylon government railway extends the line from polgahawela to talaimannar at the northern tip of ceylon (now sri lanka), to enable connecting services with sir trains with a ferry crossing across the palk strait. steamer services from dhanushkodi (india) to talaimannar (ceylon) start on march 1 .
the customary answer to this question is 3: 35pm on april 16th, 1853, when a train with 14 railway carriages and 400 guests left bombay' s bori bunder for thane, with a 21 - gun salute. it was hauled by three locomotives: sindh, sultan, and sahib. the journey took an hour and fifteen minutes .
note: this chronology is intended as a general overview for non - specialists to give them a feel for some of the interesting and complex events that shaped the development of railways in india. many line openings are mentioned to give an idea of the geographic spread of railway services. dates in most cases are those for when the completed lines were open to traffic; usually sections of the line may have been opened years earlier, and might even have supported revenue traffic in parts. dates are often somewhat uncertain because of varying reports in different sources, or lack of documentation, hence in many cases they may be off by a couple of years. anyone seeking reliable and specific information and more detail is strongly urged to consult the reference works listed in the guide to historical research and the section on books about ir history
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upper sone bridge built, the longest in india at 10, 052 feet .
calcutta tramways' electrification and conversion to standard gauge from meter gauge begins. total system size is at 30km .
the railways also start returning some modest profits; for the last 40 years they had been making large losses .
eir' s
grand chord
section finished connecting sitarampur - gaya - mughalsarai .
mg lines: kaunia - dharlla rly. lines converted to mg; jodhpur - hyderabad (by jodhpur bikaner rly. , after a section near hyderabad is converted from bg to mg) .
ng lines: gitaldaha - jainti (cooch behar state rly .); nawshera - dargai state rly. (later nwr) .
shoranur - cochin line is built, owned by the state but operated by the sir .
a monorail of the ewing system (double - flanged wheels and an outrigger wheel for balance) powered by ponies is installed for transporting tea and other light goods at the high range near keranganie .
the luni - shadipalli line is completed in the thar desert. the shadipalli - hyderabad (now pakistan) line is regauged to mg .
the robertson report recommends re - laying all bg and mg lines to standard gauge, but this report seems to have been completely ignored .
the first bogie - mounted coaches appear, including bogie dining cars on some railways .
assam - bengal rly. joins dibru - sadiya rly. at tinsukia from chittagong via lumding (mg) .
gipr appoints its first signal engineer (following belatedly in eir' s footsteps), mr i w stokes .
interlocking introduced for 9 stations (3 on bombay - thane section, 6 on thane - kalyan section) - - including bombay vt .
ng lines: gondia - nainpur (bnr); kohat - thal (later nwr) .
the moghulpura workshops near lahore build six 0 - 6 - 2t
st
class locos by using parts from other locos, making them the only works other than ajmer to build locomotives in (british) india .
the visit of the prince and princess of wales gives eir a chance to build a special train with coaches rivalling the luxury saloons used by nobility in europe .
f
class 0 - 6 - 0 mg locomotives are introduced, soon to be among the most widely - used in india for just about all kinds of duties. dubs & co. of glasgow built the first few .
ng lines: wadhwan - rajkot line of morvi rly. converted to bg; rupsa - barapada line of mourbhang (mayurbhanj) rly. opens (bnr); tirupattur - krishnagiri; gondia - nainpur line extended to jabalpur (bnr); tuna - anjar by the maharaja of cutch, later part of the cutch state rly .
entire calcutta tram network is now electrified and converted to standard gauge. the howrah station to bandhaghat line opens in june .
construction begins on a new, larger howrah terminus station with six platforms and provision for four more, to replace the older howrah station in use from 1854 .
rajputana - malwa rly. taken over by state and made part of bb & ci rly .
bb & ci rly. starts a weekend special from bombay to surat, the forerunner of the flying ranee .
dec. 6: the grand chord via gaya, which significantly shortens the distance between delhi and calcutta, opens on the eir' s calcutta - delhi trunk route (inaugurated by the earl of minto, the viceroy and governor - general of india .
the government purchases all major lines and re - leases them to private operators, with the exception of rohilkhund & kumaon rly. and bengal & north - western rly .
sirhind - morinda section of the patiala state monorail is opened, powered by oxen and army mules from 1907 until 1927 .
by now, toilets are standard in most lower class carriages, except for short suburban lines .
ng lines: purulia - ranchi (bnr); tuna - anjar extended to bhuj (cutch state rly .); shahdara - saharanpur light rly. (martin & co .) .
india' s first internal combustion locomotive, a petrol - driven mg loco, is delivered to the assam oil co. by mcewan pratt & co. of wickford, essex .
patiala state monorail obtains the four famed orenstein and koppel monorail locomotives for some of its lines .
ng lines: gwalior - sheopur kalan (2' gauge, gwalior light rly .), sabalgarh - birpur (nov. 1) .
india' s first electric locos (two of them) are delivered to the mysore gold fields by bagnalls (stafford) with overhead electrical equipment by siemens. also among the earliest electric vehicles, electrically operated rail trolleys (
white' s patented rail motor trolleys
) are brought into use (by eir' s carriage & wagon workshops, by the oudh and rohilkhund rly. , by the eastern bengal state rly. , etc .) .
saharanpur marshalling yard under construction by the north western state rly. and the oudh and rohilkhund rly .
23 - ton bg bogie hopper wagons brought into use by bengal nagpur rly. for transporting iron to the tata iron and steel works .
south india rly.' s contract is renewed despite widespread support for appropriation by the state among local interests .
the harbour line opens from kurla to reay road as the terminus (double track) .
syke' s lock and block system of interlocking introduced on the bb & ci rly. and other railways .
ng lines: gwalior light rly. : birpur - sheopur (jun. 15 )
kanpur - chachran line opened by princely state of bahawalpur (now in pakistan, closed in the 1980s) .
cabin interlocking completed for the entire length of the bombay - delhi route (gipr) .
bowringpet - kolar 2' 6
line (part of the kolar district rly .) opened by the mysore state railways .
ng lines: bb & ci lines to godhra, nadiad; jessore - jhenidah (mcleod' s) .
ng lines: kalabagh - bannu (trans - indus rly. ; later nwr) .
in the mumbai area, suburban terminals are opened at kurla, kalyan, thane, and one at the bb & ci station at bandra for gipr trains .
rbs standards for rails adopted (90lb / yd for bg, 60lb / yd for mg) .
ng lines: dholpur - bari line extended to tantpur; dhond - baramati (central provinces rly. ; later gipr); murtazapur - achalpur / yavatmal; arrah - sasaram, baraset - basirhat (martin & co .); larkana - jacobabad and jacobabad - kashmore (nwr, now in pakistan after conversion to bg) .
lower ganges bridge (hardinge bridge) opened on the trunk route to siliguri on the eir .
mandra - bhaun and sialkot - narowal lines opened (both now in pakistan; the former was closed in the 1990s) .
first ever diesel locomotive in india, a 2' 6
gauge unit from avonside (bristol) is supplied to the india office for use on a tea plantation (in assam? ?) .
ng lines: yeshwantpur - devanahalli - chikaballapur section of what would become the bangalore chikaballapur light rly. opens (2' 6
); ellichpur - yeotmal (central provinces rly. ; later gipr); burdwan - katwa (mcleod' s) .
yeshwantpur - yelahanka mg line is made mixed gauge to allow ng 2' 6
traffic .
ng lines: pulgaon - arvi (central provinces rly. , later gipr); khanai - hindubagh (zhob valley rly. ; later nwr); bankura - damodar, kalighat - falta, and ahmadpur - katwa (mcleod' s) .
nushki extension rly. towards iran opened till dalbandin, from spezand on the sibi - quetta line .
wagon pooling comes into wide use among the various regional railways as a result of war - time necessities .
oct. 1: mysore darbar takes over nanjangud - mysore - bangalore and birur - shimoga lines .
ng lines: pachora - jamner (central provinces rly. ; later gipr) .
bhusawal loco shed set up by gipr; at the time the largest loco shed in asia and the third largest in the world .
a 2' gauge diesel loco is delivered to bengal by baugleys of burton - on - trent. (1921? )
retrenchment committee under lord inchcape recommends drastic cuts in working expenses and other measures designed to produce a fixed annual profit for the state .
an electric loco with overhead power collection is delivered to the naysmyth patent press co. at calcutta, by british electric vehicles .
locomotive standards committee publishes a paper with details of proposed standardization of locomotive classes .
jamnagar - kuranga mg line opened by the jamnagar & dwarka rly. , and the kuranga - okha mg line by the okhamandal rly .
ng lines: larkana - jacobabad (nwr); futwah - islampur (martin & co .) .
uniform system of loco classification codes based on an initial letter for the gauge comes into use .
jodhpur bikaner rly. split into jodhpur state rly. and bikaner state rly .
rajkot - morvi 2' 6
line of morvi rly. converted to bg .
feb. 3: the ef / 1 (later wcg - 1 )
crocodile
loco is introduced .
irca reviews experiments with wagon pooling and establishes it as a policy for all bg railways .
ex - gipr suburban line is electrified up to kalyan. main line electrified up to poona and igatpuri over the bhore and thal ghats (1500 v dc) .
order placed with vulcan foundry for the new classes of locos (xa, xb, xc, etc .) .
east bengal state rly.' s line to siliguri is converted to bg .
aug. 27: nanjangud - chamarajanagar section opened, completing the link from mysore .
the bb & ci suburban lines extended to borivili and virar. in the bombay area tracks in some places are doubled and even tripled or quadrupled (e. g. , between bandra and borivili) .
ng lines: line from barsi road jn. to pandharpur is extended to miraj; dehri - rohtas extended to rohtas fort. in nepal, the raxaul - amlekhganj line is opened (martin & co .) .
8 - coach emu rakes are introduced on the main line in mumbai and 4 - coach rakes on the harbour line .
jan 5: colaba - borivili section electrification completed by bb & ci rly .
two suburban tracks of the bombay - borivli section are electrified, but the two mainline tracks are left for steam traction. the first batch of electric emus for bombay arrive (made by british thompson houston / cammell laird) .
sep. 1: the frontier mail is flagged off from colaba terminus, with peshawar as its destination .
first automatic colour - light signals in india, on gipr' s lines between bombay vt and byculla .
bahawalnagar - fort abbas line opened by princely state of bahawalpur (now in pakistan, closed in the 1990s) .
railways build more than 1, 000 miles of tracks each year. general period of prosperity for the railways - - generous provisions are made for passenger amenities (waiting rooms, etc .) .
railways (like everything else !) hit by the 1929 wall street crash and the ensuing global depression; severe economy measures undertaken .
kalyan - igatpuri - pune section is now completely electrified, and the quadruple line between bombay and kalyan is also electrified .
a 2' gauge diesel loco from maffei is supplied to c k andrew and co. (probably used on a plantation? )
chola power house near thakurli built by the gipr for supplying power for the newly electrified kalyan - igatpuri - pune section .
punjab limited express begins to run between mumbai and lahore, leaving mumbai on thursdays .
bombay' s victoria terminus undergoes some reconstruction work so that it gets 14 platforms .
ng lines: bb & ci line to piplod; kangra valley rly. (nwr) .
the times (london) nominates the frontier mail
the most famous express train in the british empire
.
june 1: the deccan queen begins running, hauled by a wcp - 1 (no. 20024, old number ea / 1 4006) and with 7 coaches, on the gipr' s newly electrified route to poona (pune) .
the route of the grand trunk exp. is changed to delhi - madras .
samdari - raniwara section opens as the first phase of a rail connection between jodhpur - bikaner and gujarat. phalodi - jodhpur section opens .
total trackage in india at about 43, 000 miles. hardly any new construction until after world war ii .
ng lines: darwha - pusad (central provinces rly; later gipr) .
msmr' s workshops at perambur split into the carriage and wagon workshops and the locomotive workshops .
borivli - virar electrification complete. the two mainline tracks on the bombay - borivli section are also electrified .
air - conditioning introduced in some (first - class) passenger coaches. matunga workshops manufacture 5 air - conditioned coaches, the first such to be made locally .
jodhpur rly. acquires two drewry railcars, one for the maharaja and the other an inspection car .
wedgwood committee makes recommendations for public relations, advertising, etc. which until then had been neglected. also recommends faster and more reliable passenger services and expansion of freight activities, for the railways to compete with road transport .
the infamous bihta accident, in which the excessive oscillations of an xb class loco caused the derailment of the punjab - howrah mail, killing 154 persons .
ng lines: in nepal, the nepal jaynagar - janakpur rly. opens .
may 1: the flying queen (predecessor of flying ranee) is introduced between bombay and surat, hauled by an h class 4 - 6 - 0 and making her run in 4 hours .
all lines of the msmr in mysore are taken over by the mysore darbar .
diesel railcars from ganz are tried out on the nizam' s state railways .
a light railcar built at bikaner is used on the minor lines around there .
the power systems of the chola power house and the tata hydroelectric plant are combined for supplying traction power to bombay - area suburban trains as well as for long - distance trains across the ghats .
large numbers of american and canadian locos are imported (awd, cwd, along with awc, awe, and mawd classes) .
the' following trains' system of train working is introduced as an emergency measure in some areas out of necessity because of wartime requirements .
nok kundi - zahidan section of the nushki extension rly. is re - opened .
the opening of the howrah bridge in february allows the calcutta routes of trams to be connected to the howrah routes; total system is at 67km .
fifteen diesel locos from ge supplied by usatc and deployed on wr, among the first diesel locos to be successfully used in many locations in india. most of these were classified as wds - 1 .
apr. 1: jacobabad - kashmore line taken over by state (now in pakistan) .
a skelton system monorail (locomotive with rubber tires guided by a rail, and wagons carried on the rail with outrigger wheels for stability) is installed for the 18km section from bhanvad to khambalia in gujarat, powered by a modified diesel loco .
the chronology continues in part 4, listing events from 1947 - 1970. part 5 - 1970 to 1995 & part 6 - 1995 to present day .
the chronology begins in part 1 (1832 - 1870). part 2 covers 1870 - 1899. part 4 covers 1947 to 1970. part 5 covers 1970 to 1995, and part 6 covers 1995 to 1999, while part 7 covers 2000 to the present
that, however, was just the first commercial passenger service in india. in fact, a few other railways are known to have operated in india prior to 1853, for hauling materials .
in 1835, a short experimental line was laid near chintadripet. this appears to have been a practice run of sorts for the red hill railroad line. construction on this line began in 1836. this line was intended for the carriage of granite stone. it was opened in 1837, and while it had teething troubles, it appears that it was definitely in operation in 1837, with a written report of its running from january 1838. while primarily intended for rail wagons hauled by animals, locomotives were also used on the line. one of them may even have been built in india. more here .
perhaps best known of these early pre - 1853 railways is the account of a steam locomotive, thomason, which had been used for hauling construction material in roorkee for the solani viaduct in 1851 (it is said to have begun working there on 22nd december 1851). the solani viaduct construction was a part of the ganges canal project, started in 1845. the viaduct had 15 arches and spanned the 4km - wide solani valley (about 145km north - east of new delhi). earth for the approach embankments was transported along light rail lines about 5 to 10 km long from piran kaliyar to roorkee. standard gauge wagons were used, built from parts brought over from england, and hauled by men and later horses. in late 1851, the locomotive thomason (named for the engineer on the project) was assembled on the spot from parts transported from calcutta. it hauled two wagons at a time, at a speed of about 6km / h. it did not last very long, and after about 9 months india' s first steam locomotive died a spectacular death with a boiler explosion, reportedly to the delight of the construction workers who had viewed it more as a hindrance than help. hughes' book states that this was a six - wheeled tank engine, probably a 2 - 2 - 2wt built by e. b. wilson, and of standard gauge. some details of the wagons and the use of the locomotive are in sir proby t cautley' s report on the ganges canal works (3 volumes, 1860). more here .
read more about these early railways in this article by simon darvill: the first railways in india .
it is entirely possible that there were other such railways used for the conveyance of materials and construction supplies in india around this time .
moving past these construction railways, the next locomotive to arrive in india was the falkland (named for a governor of bombay), used by the contractors of the gipr for shunting operations on the first line out of bombay that was being built. it began work on february 23, 1852. hughes' book suggests that this was also built by e. b. wilson, and was probably a four - wheeled tank engine (0 - 4 - 0t ?) with dummy crankshaft. it later became gipr loco # 9. a third locomotive, vulcan, is said to have been used by the gipr for material hauling and shunting duties in 1852 as well .
there were also eight more locos from vulcan foundry imported by gipr in 1852 and 1853 .
on november 18, 1852, a locomotive hauled some coaches on a trial run from bori bunder to thana. this probably counts as the first
real
train to run in india .
likely date of first locomotive built in india - an avery design rotary engine built for the red hill railroad. more here .
various proposals for railways in india, especially around calcutta (eir) and bombay (gipr) .
r macdonald stephenson' s
report upon the practicability and advantages of the introduction of railways into british india
is published .
survey work carried out for bombay - kalyan line and an extension up the malay ghat for proposed connections to khandwa and pune .
old guarantee system
providing free land and guaranteed rates of return (5 %) to the private english companies willing to work on building railways. agreed upon in march, finalized on august 17 .
locomotive thomason is used for construction work in roorkee, beginning on december 22. more here .
construction begins of an
experimental
section of track (howrah - rajmahal) for the proposed calcutta - delhi link via mirzapur (eir) .
construction of a line out of bombay begins, and a locomotive, falkland, begins shunting operations on february 23. the line is ready by november, and on the 18th of november, a trial run of the bombay - thane trip (35 km) is held. (some accounts suggest another locomotive, vulcan might have also been used for shunting operations here. )
on april 16th, at 3: 35pm, the first train in india leaves bombay for thane (see above for details). initial scheduled services consist of two trains each way between bombay and thane and later bombay and mahim via dadar.
the indian branch railway company was formed in 1862 to build short branch and feeder lines . it received no guarantee but was offered a 20-year subsidy . in the 1850s , it secured a guaranteed return . in 1863 , it built the 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ) wide narrow gauge railway line between azimganj and nalhati . the azimgan – nalhati line was taken over by the government in 1872 , as nalhati state railway . in 1867 , it opened the 1,000 mm ( 3 ft 3 ³ ⁄ ₈ in ) wide metre gauge kanpur – lucknow branch line . it established a railway workshop at alambagh in 1865 and another at charbagh in 1867 . around 1872 , it was merged into oudh and rohilkhand railway . oudh and rohilkhand railway was subsequently merged with east indian railway company in 1925 . 
the indian branch railway company was formed in 1862 to build short branch and feeder lines. it received no guarantee but was offered a 20-year subsidy. in the 1850s, it secured a guaranteed return. in 1863, it built the 4 ft (1,219 mm) wide narrow gauge railway line between azimganj and nalhati. the azimgan – nalhati line was taken over by the government in 1872, as nalhati state railway. in 1867, it opened the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³ ⁄ ₈ in) wide metre gauge kanpur – lucknow branch line. it established a railway workshop at alambagh in 1865 and another at charbagh in 1867. around 1872, it was merged into oudh and rohilkhand railway. oudh and rohilkhand railway was subsequently merged with east indian railway company in 1925.
the indian branch railway company was formed in 1862 to build short branch and feeder lines. it received no guarantee but was offered a 20-year subsidy. in the 1850s, it secured a guaranteed return. in 1863, it built the 4 ft (1,219 mm) wide narrow gauge railway line between azimganj and nalhati. the azimgan – nalhati line was taken over by the government in 1872, as nalhati state railway. in 1867, it opened the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³ ⁄ ₈ in) wide metre gauge kanpur – lucknow branch line. it established a railway workshop at alambagh in 1865 and another at charbagh in 1867. around 1872, it was merged into oudh and rohilkhand railway. oudh and rohilkhand railway was subsequently merged with east indian railway company in 1925.