9,628
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
no edit summary
|image=
|caption=
|route= [[Calcutta]] to [[Faridpur]] (BG) with branches to<br>[[Budge -Budge]], [[Diamond Harbour]], [[Lalgola]]
|gauge1= Broad gauge
|gauge1details= 495 miles (1905)
|timeline5details=
|presidency= [[Bengal]]
|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
|system1date= 1884
|system1details= State agency
|company12details= [[Bengal Dooars Railway]]
|headquarters= [[Calcutta]]
|workshopstations= See also separate page [[KanchraparaCalcutta_Railways_%26_Stations#Sealdah_Station| ''' Calcutta Seadah Station''']]for details|stationsworkshop= [[BangaonKanchrapara]], [[JessoreSaidpur]] <br>''See'' [[EBR Railway Workshops]],
|system1date= 1942
|system1details= Merged into [[Bengal and Assam Railway]]
==History==
The first construction started in October 1859. Isambard Kingdom Brunel had been engaged in Britain as consulting engineer to the EBR and [[Bradford Leslie]], an English civil engineer who specialised in bridges, was sent to India as engineer in charge of bridges and viaducts. He supervised the building of the [[East_Bengal_Railway_Bridges#Ichamati_River_Railway_Bridge|Eschamutter (Ichamati)]] and Koormar [[East_Bengal_Railway_Bridges#Kumar_River_Railway_Bridge|Koomar(Kumar)]] river bridges before returning to Britain in 1861. He returned to India in 1865 and became Chief Engineer and Agent <ref> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_Leslie Wikipedia "Bradford Leslie"]; Retrieved on 5 May 2016</ref>
<ref>[https://books.google.co.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 the meaning of Empire, Chapter 5.3” by D. Johnson, Richard Watson"]; Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016</ref>.
The '[[Brassey & Co|Brassey, Wythes and Paxman Partenership]] undertook the construction of the EBR a line of 112 miles(179km) from [[Calcutta]] to [[Kushtia|Kooshtea(Kushtia)]] on the River Ganges. The line opened in stages from [[Calcutta]] in 1862 and completed through to [[Kushtia]] in 1864.
The [[1870-71_Report_on_Railways#Progress_on_State_lines._Paragraphs_5-10.3B_Pages_3-4| “1870-71 Annual Report for Indian Railways for the Eastern Bengal Railway“]] gives:- [[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|
‘Broad Gauge (BG)]] Line sanctioned 159 miles(256km), which included 45 miles(72km)of Line opened 1870 with nil to be finished’. The Report also details the [[1870-71_Report_on_Railways#Eastern_Bengal_Railway._Paragraphs_76-78.3B_Page_36|‘progress of the railway and the commercial summery’]] - ''see separate pages for Report details.''
[[Franklin Prestage]] became the Agent for the EBR in the early 1870's. In its original contract with the Secretary of State for India, the EBR Company was to open a rail-line to [[Darjeeling]]. However the [[Government of India]] took a decision to stop expansion of rail-lines by Guaranteed companies in new areas and instead decided to construct and manage new rail-lines as [[:Category:State Railways|State Railways]]. Prestage resigned from EBR and in 1879 set up the [[Darjeeling Steam Tramway]] Company <ref>[http://www.irfca.org/articles/eminent-railwaymen.html#prestage “Eminent Railwaymen of Yesteryears” by R R Bhandari July 2008, reproduced by IRFCA ''Indian Railways Fan Club''] Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016</ref>.
== EBR Lines owned and worked ==
The development of the EBR network is detailed in a separate page '''[[Eastern Bengal Railway - Lines owned and worked]] ''' broken down into the three Rail Gauge Divisions.
<br>The initial construction of Bridges is covered in a separate page '''[[East Bengal Railway Bridges|Eastern Bengal Railway Bridges]]''' as part of the development of the EBR system
==External Links==
