Bengal and North-Western Railway

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Bengal and North-Western Railway
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Line of route
Gauge / mileage
Metre gauge 902 miles (1905)
Timeline
1881 Company formed
1884 First section opened to traffic
Key locations
Presidency Bengal
Stations Baharaich, Basti, Bhatni, Mankapur
System agency
1881 Bengal and North-Western Railway
1943 Oudh and Tirhut Railway
How to interpret this infobox
Bengal and North-Western Railway
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System timeline
Constituent companies / lines
Bengal and North-Western Railway
1890 Tirhoot State Railway
Key locations
Headquarters Gorakhpur
Workshops Gorakhpur, Samastipur (Stores)
Major Stations Benares, Darbhanga, Ghazipur, Gonda, Monghyr, Muzaffarpur
Successor system / organisation
1943 Oudh and Tirhut Railway
System mileage
Metre gauge 1468 miles (1905)
2088 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
Bengal and North Western Railway Battalion
How to interpret this infobox

The Bengal and North-Western Railway (B&NWR) was a metre gauge railway, eventually comprising a complicated network of lines on the left (north) bank of the Ganges between Katihar in the east and Lucknow in the west.

Bengal & North Western main line

B&NWR main line was 301 miles long Metre gauge consisting of following sections:

  • Sonepur to Mankapur (219 miles) opened 15 January 1885
  • Mankapur to Gonda (17 miles) opened 2 April 1884
  • Gonda to Colonelganj (18 miles) opened (29 October 1891) 1 February 1892
  • Colonelganj to Jarwal Road (11 miles) opened 1 February 1892
  • Jarwal Road to Bahramghat (5 miles) (including Elgin Bridge) opened 18 December 1896
  • Bahramghat to Burhwal (4 miles) opened 24 November 1896
  • Burwhal to Barabanki (Broad gauge: 17 miles) opened 1 April 1872
    • Burhwal to Barabanki (Broad to Mixed gauge) converted 24 November 1896
    • Burhwal to Barabanki (Mixed to Metre gauge) converted around 1943
  • Dighwara-Goldingganj diversion (7 miles) opened around 1960
  • Barabanki to Chhapra (Metre to Broad gauge) converted 1981
  • Chhapra Kacheri to Dighwara (Metre to Broad gauge: 10 miles) converted autumn 2006

Branch Lines

This section is work-in-progress

Lines worked by B&NWR

This section is work-in-progress

History

The B&NWR was unusual in that it was one of the very few railways promoted and constructed without Government assistance other than the gift of land, the original contract being signed in 1882.

On 1 January 1943, the Government of India nationalised the B&NWR and amalgamated it with the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway to form the Oudh and Tirhut Railway which subsequently, in 1952, became part of North Eastern Railway, a zone of Indian Railways.

Notes

  1. Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust
  2. Chapter 1 - Evolution of Indian Railways-Historical Background

External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_and_North_Western_Railway