View source for Great Indian Peninsula Railway

{{Line Railways Infobox
|image= GIPR Bombay-Poona Mail.jpg
|caption= ''The Bombay-Poona Mail in full flight about 1910''
|route= [[Bombay]] to [[Raichur]] (SE Division}<br>[[Bombay]] to [[Jubbulpore]] (NE Division))<br>[[Bhusawal]] to [[Delhi]]<br>[[Bhusawal]] to [[Nagpur]]
|gauge1= Broad gauge
|gauge1details= 1562 miles (1905)
|gauge2= 
|gauge2details= 
|gauge3= 
|gauge3details= 
|gauge4= 
|gauge4details=
|timeline1date= 1845
|timeline1details= Company formed
|timeline2date= 1853
|timeline2details= First section of line open to traffic
|timeline3date= 1871
|timeline3details= Through trains to [[Calcutta]] ''via'' [[Jubbulpore]]
|timeline4date= 
|timeline4details= [[Dhond-Manmad State Railway]] absorbed
|timeline5date= 1900
|timeline5details= Line acquired by State
|presidency= [[Bombay]]
|stations= [[Kalyan]], [[Poona]], [[Hotgi]], [[Wadi]], [[Ahmadnagar]], [[Akola]], [[Chanda]], [[Khandwa]], [[Itarsi]], [[Narsinghpur]]
|system1date=
|system1details= Worked by Great Indian Peninsula Railway
|system2date=
|system2details= 
|system3date=
|system3details=  
|auxillary forces=
}}

{{System_Railways_Infobox
|image= Great Indian Peninsula Railway.jpg
|caption= ''Great Indian Peninsula Railway device''
|timeline1date= 1900
|timeline1details= Company re-formed to work State line
|timeline2date= 
|timeline2details=
|timeline3date= 
|timeline3details=
|timeline4date= 1925
|timeline4details= Government takes over working of system
|timeline5date= 
|timeline5details=  
|company1=
|company1details= [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway]]
|company2=
|company2details= [[Agra-Delhi Chord Railway]]
|company3=
|company3details= [[Bhopal-Itarsi Railway]]
|company4=
|company4details= [[Bhopal-Ujjain Railway]]
|company5=
|company5details= [[Bina-Goona-Baran Railway]]
|company6=
|company6details= [[Gwalior Light Railway]]
|company7= 1900
|company7details= [[Indian Midland Railway]]
|company8=
|company8details= 
|company9=
|company9details= 
|company10=
|company10details= 
|company11=
|company11details= 
|company12=
|company12details= 
|headquarters= [[Bombay]]
|workshop= [[Parel]]
|stations= [[Agra]], [[Ahmadnagar]], [[Akola]], [[Amraoti]], [[Banda]], [[Bhopal]], [[Bhusawal]], [[Cawnpore]], [[Chanda]], [[Delhi]], [[Dholpur]], [[Gwalior]], [[Hotgi]], [[Itarsi]], [[Jhansi]], [[Jubbulpore]], [[Khandwa]], [[Muttra]], [[Nagpur]], [[Narsinghpue]], [[Poona]], [[Raichur]], [[Saugor]], [[Wadi]]
|system1date= 1951
|system1details= [[Central Railway]] (IR zone)
|system2date=
|system2details=  
|system3date=
|system3details=  
|gauge1= Broad gauge
|gauge1details= 2988 miles (1905)<br>3363 miles (1943)
|gauge2= 2' 0" NG
|gauge2details= 183 miles (1905)<br>202 miles (1943)
|gauge3= 
|gauge3details= 
|gauge4= 
|gauge4details= 
|auxillary forces= [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway Regiment]]
}}
{{Railwaymap 
|railway= the North East Division
|link= http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=108089533651928306068.0004776aacede4ad4baa7
}}
Like most of the early railways in India, the '''Great Indian Peninsula Railway''' (GIPR) was a British company, registered in London, privately owned and financed, operating under licence and guarantee from the (British) Board of Control in India and the [[East India Company]] (EIC). The GIPR was India's and Asia's first railway.

== History ==

Formed in 1845, it was not until 1849 (at the urging of the then Governor, Lord Dalhousie) that the EIC sanctioned the GIPR to construct an experimental line, built to the broad gauge of 5' 6", eastward from Bombay. The first sod was turned on 31 October 1850 and the first locomotive was used in construction on 22 December 1851, but the first passenger train in India did not run until 16 April 1853, when a train, with 14 railway carriages and 400 guests, left [[Bombay]] bound for [[Thane]], hauled by three locomotives: ''Sindh, Sultan,'' and ''Sahib''. The 21 mile journey took an hour and fifteen minutes over the first section of the GIPR to be opened.

By 1859, GIPR was tasked with "the construction and working of the following lines, all of which terminate at Bombay, - viz. from Bombay, ''via'' Callian, to Jubbulpore, to meet the East Indian Railway Company's line from Allahabad, with branches to Mahim and Nagpore - 870 miles; and from Callian, ''via'' Poonah and Sholapore, to the opposite side of the river Kristna, to meet the line, ''via'' Bellary, from Madras - 366 miles - total, 1,236 miles. Capital 10,000,000''l''l. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent. on 8,000,000''l''. capital, and 4½ per cent. on 333,000''l''. debentures, the balance to be raised upon arrangements to be hereafter made."<ref>"Money Market and City Intelligence", ''The Times'',  Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.</ref>

[[Image:India-rail-1870.jpg|left|thumb|Map of GIPR in 1870]]


When, in 1871, the GIPR eventually reached [[Jubbulpore]] and linked to the [[East Indian Railway]] (EIR), it completed Dalhousie’s dream of a Bombay-Calcutta route.

On 30 June 1900, the assets of the GIPR were purchased by the GoI and merged with those of the [[Indian Midland Railway]] into a "new" GIPR, managed by the old company.

On 1 July 1925, the GoI took over direct control of the GIPR and transferred the [[Allahabad]] to [[Jubbulpore]] branch of the [[East Indian Railway|EIR]] to the GIPR. 

In 1951, the GIPR combined with the [[Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway]], the [[Dholpur State Railway]] and the [[Scindia State Railway]] to become [[Central Railway]], a zone of [[Indian Railways]].

The principal economic benefit of the GIPR was the opening up of the interior to external trade. The two lines up the Western Ghats were fully open by 1865 in time for cotton from the Deccan to be exported from Bombay to Manchester thus filling the trade gap created by the American Civil War.
 
==Construction==
===The Western Ghats===
The narrow coastal plain of India's west side is separated from the Deccan plateau by a mountain range which rises 1200m (3,900 ft) and which has always restricted internal communication with the Arabian Sea.

====Bhore Ghat Incline - between Kalyan and Poona====

The GIPR south-eastern route towards Madras.

Incline length: 15 miles, tunnels: 26 (totalling 2.25 miles in length),and 8 viaducts of masonry construction.

[[Civil Engineers]] included:
Consulting Engineer England: '''Robert Stephenson''' (until his death 1859)
*GIPR Chief Engineer 1849 - 1862: '''James James Berkley''' (surveyor and route designer).
*GIPR 2nd Engineer 1850 -          CB Kerr
*GIPR 3rd Engineer 1850            Robert W Graham   (his assistant Robert Maitland Brereton)
Consultant engineer 1847 - 1867: '''Arthur Anderson West''' (surveyor of the Bhore Gate Incline).
<ref>[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/imotp.1913.17526  OBITUARY. ARTHUR ANDERSON WEST, 1827-1913], ''ICE Virtual Library'' . Retrieved on 28 July 2014.</ref>

GIPR Engineers: Messrs Adamson and Clowser, replaced by Messrs West and Tate in November 1859.

'''Construction Contractors'''

The contract was awarded (autumn 1855) to '''William Frederick Faviell''' and work begun at Bhore Ghat on 24 January 1856. In  March 1859, Faviell gave up his contract; for a short time, two GIPR engineers, '''Swainson Adamson''' and '''George Louis Clowser''', carried on the work.

The GIPR construction contract was relet in November 1859 to Solomon Tredwell who died within fifteen days of landing in India. His wife, Alice Tredwell, assumed the contract and appointed Messrs Adamson and Clowser to manage the contract for her in her absence, as Mrs Tredwell returned to England. This arrangement was to last seven years. 

“These gentlemen (Adamson and Clowser) carried on the work with the greatest zeal and ability.” Labour management could limit construction progress, but “by their good and liberal management (Adamson and Clowser) collected and kept on the work a force of 25,000 men during two seasons, and in 1861 of more than 42,000 men.”<ref>Campbell, Sir James MacNabb and Enthoven, Reginald Edward. [http://www.archive.org/stream/gazetteerbombay05enthgoog#page/n343/mode/2up ''Thana District Gazetteer''], 'page 329. Retrieved on 28 July 2014.</ref>

====Thul Ghat incline - between Kalyan and Nasik====

The GIPR north-eastern route towards the Gangetic plain.

===Stations===
[[Image:Victoria Terminus. G I P Ry, Bombay.JPG‎|right|thumb|320px|''Victoria Terminus, G I P Ry, Bombay'']]
Bombay's Victoria Terminus was both the principal station and GIPR's HQ; designed by [[architect]] Frederick William Stevens, it opened on Queen Victoria's 1887 Golden Jubilee.
The GIPR had a collection of sidings spurring off to the docks in the east Bombay. There were numerous spurs to:
*Victoria Dock 1891
*Princes Dock 1888
*Carnac Basin
*Malet Basin
*Frere Basin
*Clerk Basin

==GIPR Branch Lines and extensions==
*[[Dhond-Manmad State Railway]], opened 1878. A 'chord' line connecting GIPR main lines; constructed by [[Government of India |GoI]] and handed to GIPR, 1880.

==Railways absorbed into GIPR==
==Railways absorbed into GIPR== 
*[[Agra-Delhi Chord Railway]], opened 1904. Constructed to provide extra capacity between Agra and Delhi; worked by GIPR
*[[Allahabad-Jubbulpore line]], opened 1867. Built by [[East Indian Railway]](EIR); transferred to GIPR, 1925
*[[Amraoti State Railway]], opened 1871.  Branch railway to Baderna on GIPR. Worked by GIPR and finally taken over.
*[[Bina-Goona-Baran Railway]], opened 1895. Owned by State of Gwalior and Udaipur Durbar; worked by [[Indian Midland Railway]](IMR); amalgamated into GIPR , 1900
*[[Indian Midland Railway]](IMR). State agency formed 1882 to work several branch lines centred on Jhansi, amalgamated into GIPR, 1900 
**[[Cawnpore-Kalpi-Jhansi Railway]], opened  1886. Line completed 1888 by IMR.
**[[Bhopal State Railway]], opened 1884.  Indian State line, initially worked by IMR as Bhopal-Itarsi (Indian State Section).
**[[Bhopal-Itarsi Railway]], opened 1882. State(British) Section; worked by IMR, 1885.
**[[Bhopal-Ujjain Railway]], opened c.1895. Indian State line worked by IMR.
**[[Bina-Katni Railway]], opened 1889. Part of IMR.
**[[Jhansi-Bina Bhopal Railway]], opened 1889. Part of IMR.
** [[Jhansi-Gwallior and Katni Railway]], opened 1889. Part of IMR.
**[[Jhansi-Konch-Kalpi Railway]], opened 1886. Part of IMR. 
**[[Jhansi-Manikpore State Railway]], opened 1889. Part of IMR.
**[[Kunch- Madhggarh Railway]]. Project in 1906 by IMR/GIPR as extension to [[Ait-Kunch Branch Railway]]

==Lines worked by GIPR at some time==

== Records ==

The following are held in the [[India Office Records]] at the [[British Library]].

*'''L/AG/46/12/86''' :  GIPR Lists of appointments (officers 1849-1885; workmen 1852-1880)
*'''L/AG/46/12/88''' :  GIPR Contracts of employment (officers 1886-1925; workmen 1881-1925)
*'''Z/L/AG/46'''  :  Index to UK Appointments to  Indian Railways (1849-1925)
*'''Mss Eur D1184/14''' :   Letters to Arthur A West from G L Clowser Nov 1860-Nov 1861   British Library, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections


==Notes==
<references />


== External Links ==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Indian_Peninsula_Railway Great Indian Peninsula Railway] Wikipedia

*[http://www.allen-family-tree.co.uk/solomon-tredwell.html Solomon and Alice Tredwell, contractors for Bhore Ghat] ''Instone Family Tree''.

*[http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?txtkeys1=Great+Indian+Peninsula+Railway GIPR picture gallery] ''Science & Society Picture Library''.

*[http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1899/aug/03/guaranteed-railways-in-india "Guaranteed Railways in India"] ''Hansard 1803-2005'' (accessed 04 December 2008)

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100126031433/http://www.centralrailwayonline.com/aboutus.jsp History (of Central Railway)] ''Central Railway (Indian Railways)''. (now an archived site)
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhatrapati_Shivaji_Terminus  Victoria Terminus, (GIPR HQ & station <nowiki>[</nowiki>Bombay<nowiki>]</nowiki>)]  Wikipedia (now known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131120075151/http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/vim0PsB8bW75gL0GQFEkaK/Mumbai-Multiplex--The-line-starts-here.html  "Mumbai Multiplex : The line starts here"] by  Supriya Nair 4 January  2013. livemint.com "The ‘heritage wing’ of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a railway enthusiast’s dream"
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=a5MEAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=bombay+mechanics&hl=en&ei=8FUcTMGmHqC0nAeWxImdDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false   Paper on the (GIPR) Thul Ghaut Railway incline] by James John Berkley: GIPR Chief Engineer, Bombay, 1860.
*[http://www.archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofo00brer#page/8/mode/2up ''Reminicences of an old English Civil Engineer 1858 -1908''] by Robert Maitland Brereton 1908 Archive.org. Includes [http://archive.org/stream/reminiscencesofo00brer#page/48/mode/2up  Appendix: India] page 49.  Brereton's account of working on the GIPR 1857-1870. He became Chief Engineer.



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