Changes

|route= [[Calcutta]] to [[Faridpur]] (BG) with branches to<br>[[Budge -Budge]], [[Diamond Harbour]], [[Lalgola]]

|timeline2date= 1868|timeline2details= [[Calcutta and South Eastern Railway]] mergertaken over

|timeline4date= 1915|timeline4details= Opening of [[Hardinge Bridge]] at Sara Ghat

|stations= '''[[Sealdah|Calcutta Sealdah]]''', [[Dum Dum]], [[Naihati]], [[Kaliganga]], [[Rajbari]], [[Goalundo]], [[Ranaghat]], [[Krishnagar]], [[Plassey]], [[Murshidabad]], [[Bangaon]], [[Jessore]],See also separate page [[Calcutta_Railways_%26_Stations#Sealdah_Station| ''' Calcutta Seadah Station''']] for details

|company1= 1884|company1details= [[Eastern Bengal Railway]]|company2=1868

|workshopstations= See also separate page [[KanchraparaCalcutta_Railways_%26_Stations#Sealdah_Station| ''' Calcutta Seadah Station''']]for details|stationsworkshop= [[BangaonKanchrapara]], [[JessoreSaidpur]] <br>''See'' [[EBR Railway Workshops]],

The '''Eastern Bengal Railway''' Company (EBR) was formed as a [[Guaranteed Railways|Guaranteed Railway]] company in 1857 for "the construction and working of a line from [[Calcutta ]] to [[Dacca]], with a branch to [[Jessore]]. Capital 1,000,000''l''. This amount has been sanctioned for the line from Calcutta to the Ganges at Kooshtee([[Kushtia]]), near Pubnah, about 80 miles, all that is authorised to be proceeded with at present. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent on 1,000,000''l''." <supref>1"Money Market and City Intelligence", ''The Times'', Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a. </supref>.

==Branch Lines and extensionsHistory==*[[Budge-Budge Branch Railway]] opened 1890The first construction started in October 1859. Branch line of EBR*[[Canning Branch Railway]] opened Isambard Kingdom Brunel had been 1862-63. Branch line of engaged in Britain as consulting engineer to the EBR *and [[Chitpur Branch RailwayBradford Leslie]] opened 1873. Branch line of , EBR *[[Dalsingpara Branch Railway]] opened after 1811. Branch of Jainti Section of EBR ; under construction an English civil engineer who specialised in 1911*[[Dhubri Branch Railway]] opened 1902. Branch of Assam Section of EBR.*[[Faridpur Branch Railway]] opened 1898-99. Branch from Poradaha Section of EBR*[[Gauhati Branch Railway]] opened 1906. Part of Assam Section of EBR bridges, incorporating part of [[Kaunia-Dharlia State Tram/Railway]]; extended up was sent to 1909*[[Goalundo Branch Railway]] opened 1862. Branch from Poradaha Section India as engineer in charge of EBR ; extended up to 1882.*[[Godagari Ghat Branch Railway]] opened 1909bridges and viaducts. Branch from Katihar Section He supervised the building of EBR *the [[Jainti Branch RailwayEast_Bengal_Railway_Bridges#Ichamati_River_Railway_Bridge|Eschamutter(Ichamati)]] opened 1900-1. Branch of Jainti Section of EBR*[[Jogbani Branch Railway]] opened 1887. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR ; extended 1909*[[Kankurgachi Chord Railway]] opened 1907. Short connecting section of EBR*[[Katihar Branch Railway]] opened 1883. Branch of Katihar Section of EBR ; opened 1883 and extended 1889*[[Kaunia-Bonarpara Extension RailwayEast_Bengal_Railway_Bridges#Kumar_River_Railway_Bridge|Koomar(Kumar)]] opened 1905river bridges before returning to Britain in 1861. Extension He returned to EBR network*[[Khulna Branch Railway]] opened 1883-4. Originally [[Bengal Central Railway]]; India in 1905 1865 and became Branch line of EBR *Chief Engineer and Agent <ref> [[Kishanganj Branch Railway]] opened 1892https://en. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR*[[Kurigram Branch Railway]] opened 1882wikipedia. Branch line of Eastern Bengal State Railway*[[Lalgola Ghat Branch Railwayorg/wiki/Bradford_Leslie Wikipedia "Bradford Leslie"]] opened 1905. Branch line of ; Retrieved on EBR ; opened 1905, extended 19075 May 2016</ref>*<ref>[[Lalmonirhat-Gitalaha(Geetaldaha) Railway]] opened chttps://books.google.1900co. Link between [[Bengal Dooars Railway]] uk/books?id=PpJMCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT74&lpg=PT74&dq=southern+punjab+railway+company&source=bl&ots=R1AsTgkegr&sig=CzpHod72_VMtjRKj6Ire4zWNOV4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjyqrig1rXMAhVrJMAKHY0EDRc4ChDoAQg3MAU#v=onepage&q=southern%20punjab%20railway%20company&f=false Google Books “New Delhi: The Last Imperial City- Sir Bradford Leslie and [[Cooch Behar State Railway]]the meaning of Empire, Chapter 5.*[[Manihari Branch Railway]] opened 18873” by D. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR *[[Murshidabad Branch RailwayJohnson, Richard Watson"]] opened 1909. Branch line of EBR*[[Patipukur Loop Railway]] opened ; Retrieved on 1904. Chord line of EBR for goods*[[Raiti Branch Railway]] opened 1910. Branch from Poradaha Section of EBR*[[Tanga Branch Railway]]2 Jun 2016</ref>. Branch of Assam Section of EBR ; under construction, 1911

==Railways absorbed into EBR==*The '[[Bengal Central Railway]] opened 1882. Private company without guarantee; merged into EBR Brassey & Co|Brassey, 1905*[[Bengal Dooars RailwayWythes and Paxman Partenership]](BDR) opened 1893. Independent Company operation small MG network; undertook the construction merged into EBR , 1941*[[Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Railway]] opened 1899. Amalgamated with EBR , 1904 together with [[Phulchari Branch Railway]] and [[Santahar-Kaunia Loop Railway]]. *[[Calcutta and South Eastern Railway]] opened 1862. Surrendered to [[Government of India |GoI]] , 1 Apr 1868; Worked by State, 1868-70; by EBR, 1870-74; merged into EBR, 1884*[[Cooch Behar State Railway]] opened 1893. State railway, worked and finally bought by EBR c.1899*[[Dacca State Railway]] opened 1885. Formerly [[Narayanganj-Dacca-Mymensingh State Railway]] ; merged into the EBR , 1887; becoming Dacca Section a line of EBR *[[Diamond Harbour Line Railway]] opened 1862. First opened as 112 miles(179km) from [[Calcutta and South Eastern Railway]]; merged into EBR , 1884*[[Kaunia-Dharlia State Tram/Railway]] opened 1884-85. Constructed by EBR as [[Rail_gauge#Metre_Gauge|NG]] Tram, converted to [[Rail_gauge#Metre_GaugeKushtia|NG]], 1901; part to EBR Gauhati Branch ; part to BDR Kurigram Branch *[[Kaunia-Kurigram Railway]] opened c.1885. Narrow gaugeKooshtea(NGKushtia); merged into EBR 1887; converted to metre gauge 1928/29.*[[Mymensingh-Jamalpur-Jagannath Railway]] opened 1898. Owned by [[Indian General Navigation and Railway Company]]; worked and finally purchased by EBR * [[Northern Bengal State Railway]](NBSR)opened 1877. Merged into EBR , 1887; becoming on the EBR North Bengal Section*[[Poradah Branch Railway]] opened cRiver Ganges.1880. Constructed by [[Northern Bengal State Railway]](NBSR) but worked by EBR; apparently taken over by EBR c.1913*[[Ranagat-Bangaon Railway]] The line opened 1882. Opened as part of in stages from [[Bengal Central RailwayCalcutta]]; became section of EBR , 1905*[[Ranaghat-Krishnagar Light Railway]] opened 1899. Narrow gauge(NG), via Shantipur. Constructed by [[Martin's Light Railways]] Company taken over by EBR, 1904*[[Santipur-Nabadwip Light Railway]] opened 1898. Constructed by in 1862 and completed through to [[Martin's Light RailwaysKushtia]] Company; taken over by EBR , 1904 *[[Sara-Sirajgonj Railway]] opened 1915-16in 1864. Private company, worked by EBR, finally purchased by EBR

==Lines worked by EBR at some time==*The [[Khulna1870-71_Report_on_Railways#Progress_on_State_lines._Paragraphs_5-10.3B_Pages_3-4| “1870-Bagerhat Railway71 Annual Report for Indian Railways for the Eastern Bengal Railway“]] opened 1918gives:-19. Narrow gauge(NG) railway; constructed in 1918. Worked by EBR*[[Lalmonirhat-GitalahaRail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|‘Broad Gauge (GeetaldahaBG) Railway]] opened c.1900. Link between [[Bengal Dooars Railway]] Line sanctioned and [[Cooch Behar State Railway]]159 miles(256km), jointly worked which included 45 miles(72km)of Line opened 1870 with nil to be finished’.*The Report also details the [[Teesta1870-Kurigram Railway]] opened c71_Report_on_Railways#Eastern_Bengal_Railway.1885_Paragraphs_76-78. Section 3B_Page_36|‘progress of [[Kaunia-Kurigram Railwaythe railway and the commercial summery’]] , worked by EBR*[[Netrakona-Mohanganj Railway]] was constructed between 1912 and 1918 by the Mymensingh–Bhairab Bazar Railway Company, worked by EBR''see separate pages for Report details.''

==Train Ferry Links EBR==*[[Pandu Ghat-Gauhati RailwayFranklin Prestage]] opened cbecame the Agent for the EBR in the early 1870's.1908 Link constructed by In its original contract with the Secretary of State for India, the EBR Company was to open a rail-line to link the [[Amingaon-Pandu Train FerryDarjeeling]]. Rail transhipment by ferry crossing However the Brahmaputra River linking EBR system to [[Assam Bengal RailwayGovernment of India]](ABR)'s network. Worked took a decision to stop expansion of rail-lines by ABR; transferred Guaranteed companies in new areas and instead decided to ABR, 1922*construct and manage new rail-lines as [[Sara Train Ferry:Category:State Railways|State Railways]] opened c.1899. Ferry link Prestage resigned from EBR main line across Ganges to Sara taking Goods wagons and in 1879 set up the [[Darjeeling Steam Tramway]] Company <ref>[http://www.irfca.org/articles/eminent-railwaymen. Operated until 1915 html#prestage “Eminent Railwaymen of Yesteryears” by R R Bhandari July 2008, reproduced by IRFCA ''Indian Railways Fan Club''] Retrieved on opening of Hardinge Bridge2 Jun 2016</ref>.

The first track was laid along GoI merged the east bank of the Ganga to broad gauge([[KushthiaRail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]] and then across the river to ) [[DaccaCalcutta and South Eastern Railway]]. The line to Kushthia was opened in 1862into the EBSR, ending and in 1887 several metre gauge([[CalcuttaRail_gauge_#Metre_Gauge|MG]] at ) and narrow gauge [[SealdahRail_gauge#Narrow_Gauge|NG]]. The EBR became railwaysRailways – this giving the '''Eastern Bengal State Railway''', owned and managed by three Rail Gauges that made up the Government of India (GoI), on 30 June 1884EBR network.

The GoI merged the [[Calcutta and South Eastern Railway]] into the EBSR, and several others in 1887. In 1904, the EBSR took over the [[Bengal Central Railway]] which it had previously been working, and the [[Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Railway]]. In 1915, the system reverted to the style, '''Eastern Bengal Railway'''.<ref>[https://ia801009.us.archive.org/8/items/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System.pdf " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; pages 42(BG); 47(MG); 52(NG)]; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015</ref><ref>[http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Railway Banglapedia "National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh" Railway]; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015</ref><ref>[http://inforail.blogspot.com/2012/10/brief-history-of-bangladesh-railway.html "Brief History of Bangladesh Railway" Bangladesh Railway Information]; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015</ref>

During the 1920s, the EBR continued to grow by merger and amalgamation, and also began to convert sections of metre and narrow gauge to eliminate rail bottlenecks.  On 1 January 1941, the GoI acquired the [[Bengal Dooars Railway]] and merged it into the EBR.

== Records EBR Lines owned and worked == The following are held development of the EBR network is detailed in the a separate page '''[[India Office RecordsEastern Bengal Railway - Lines owned and worked]] at the [[British Library]]. *'''L/AG/46/10/35''' : Contracts of appointment (1862-1869) broken down into the three Rail Gauge Divisions. <br>The above initial construction of Bridges is partially indexed covered in *a separate page '''Z/L/AG/46[[East Bengal Railway Bridges|Eastern Bengal Railway Bridges]]''' : Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways (1849-1925) The following is not included in as part of the index Z/L/AG/46. *'''L/AG/46/10/35''' : Lists development of staff, 1879-1881.the EBR system

== Notes External Links== <sup>1<*[http:/sup> /en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Railway Banglapedia "Money Market and City IntelligenceNational Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh", ''The Times'', Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7aRailway]*[http://inforail.blogspot.com/2012/10/brief-history-of-bangladesh-railway.html "Brief History of Bangladesh Railway" Bangladesh Railway Information]