Arakan Light Railway
| Arakan Light Railway | ||
|---|---|---|
| [[Image:|150px| ]] | ||
| Line of route | ||
| Buthiadaung to Maungdaw | ||
| Gauge / mileage | ||
| 2ft 6in NG | 18.5 miles (1919) | |
| Timeline | ||
| 1913 | Construction commenced by Buthiadaung-Maungdaw Tramway Company | |
| c.1916 | Arakan Light Railway Company authorised | |
| Feb 1919 | Line opened | |
| 1926 | Line closed | |
| Key locations | ||
| Presidency | Bengal; Burma Province | |
| Stations | Buthiadaung, Maungdaw | |
| System agency | ||
| 1916 | Own Agency under Martin's Light Railways administration. | |
| c.1926 | Government of India | |
| How to interpret this infobox | ||
The Arakan Light Railway was formerly the Buthiadaung-Maungdaw Tramway Company which was founded by The Arakan Flotilla Company in March 1913, to construct a 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) railway between Buthidaung and Maungdaw to improve communications in the remote area near Burma's border with what is now Bangladesh.
The consultant was Everard Richard Calthrop (1857-1927) and the specification was based on the Barsi Light Railway which had opened in 1897. [1]
In October 1916 Martin's Light Railways Company of Calcutta registered the Arakan Light Railway Company in order to purchase and complete the line, with support from the Governments of India and Burma and the Arakan Flotilla Company. [2] The Contract dated 10 October 1916 between the ‘Secretary of State’ and the ‘Arakan Light Railway Company Limited’ enabled the purchase from the ‘ Buthidaung - Maungdaw Tramway Company Limited’ ... ‘partly constructed by the Tramway Company and of completing the construction’[3] [4]
The railway with a line length of 18½ miles (30km) between Buthiadaung and Maungdaw [5] opened on 15th February 1919 but receipts were disappointing and covered only half the expenses, resulting in liquidation and sale to the Indian Government for dismantling.
The Government of India(GoI) acquired it from the liquidators and closed it in 1926.
References
- ↑ [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everard_Calthrop "Everard Calthrop"/Involvement in other railways/Arakan Light Railway “ Wikipedia]; Retrieved 17 Feb 2016
- ↑ "Arakan Light Railway" by Jan Ford; Retrieved 12 Nov 2018 2016
- ↑ British Library ‘India Office Records’ IOR/L/F/8/19/1443 “Arakan Light Railway Company Limited, Contract for construction of a railway; 1918”
- ↑ " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 207; Retrieved 12 Nov 2018
- ↑ " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 207; Retrieved 12 Nov 2018
