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]],

==History==The '''Eastern Bengal Railway''' (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 formed sent to India as engineer in 1857 for "charge of bridges and viaducts. He supervised the building of the construction [[East_Bengal_Railway_Bridges#Ichamati_River_Railway_Bridge|Eschamutter(Ichamati)]] and working of a line from Calcutta [[East_Bengal_Railway_Bridges#Kumar_River_Railway_Bridge|Koomar(Kumar)]] river bridges before returning to Dacca, with a branch Britain in 1861. He returned to JessoreIndia in 1865 and became Chief Engineer and Agent <ref> [https://en.wikipedia. Capital 1,000,000''l''org/wiki/Bradford_Leslie Wikipedia "Bradford Leslie"]; Retrieved on 5 May 2016</ref><ref>[https://books.google.co. This amount has been sanctioned for 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 line from Calcutta to the Ganges at Kooshteemeaning of Empire, near Pubnah, about 80 miles, all that is authorised to be proceeded with at presentChapter 5.3” by D. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent on 1Johnson,000,000''l''.Richard Watson" <sup>1]; Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016</supref>.

==Branch Lines The '[[Brassey & Co|Brassey, Wythes and extensions==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 absorbed into EBR== 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.''

==Lines worked [[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 at some time== 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>.

==Train Ferry Links The EBR==became the '''Eastern Bengal State Railway'''(EBSR), owned and managed by the Government of India([[Government of India |GoI]]), on 30 June 1884.

The first track was laid along the east bank of In 1915, the Ganga system reverted to [[Kushthia]] and then across the river to [[Dacca]]. The line to Kushthia was opened in 1862style, ending in [[Calcutta]] at [[Sealdah]]. The EBR became the '''Eastern Bengal State Railway''', owned and managed by the Government of India (GoI), on 30 June 1884.

The GoI merged During the [[Calcutta 1920s, the EBR continued to grow by merger and South Eastern Railway]] into the EBSRamalgamation, and several others in 1887. In 1904, the EBSR took over the [[Bengal Central Railway]] which it had previously been working, also began to convert sections of metre and the [[Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Railway]]. In 1915, the system reverted narrow gauge to the style, '''Eastern Bengal Railway'''eliminate rail bottlenecks.

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

== Notes External Links== *[http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Railway Banglapedia "National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh" Railway]*[http://inforail.blogspot.com/2012/10/brief-history-of-bangladesh-railway.html "Brief History of Bangladesh Railway" Bangladesh Railway Information]

== References ==<sup>1<references /sup> "Money Market and City Intelligence", ''The Times'', Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.