Burma Railway

Burma Railway
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System timeline
1896	Burma Railway Company formed to work existing state lines
1928	Nationalisation
1937	Separation of Burma from India
1948	Union of Burma created
Constituent companies / lines
1896	Irrawaddy Valley State Railway
1896	Sittang Valley State Railway
1896	Mu Valley State Railway
1923-1927	Madaya Light Railway
Key locations
Headquarters	Rangoon
Workshops	Insein
Major Stations	Mandalay, Pegu, Prome, Toungoo
Successor system / organisation
1928	Burma Railways
1989	Myanmar Railways
System mileage
Metre gauge	1340 miles (1905) 2049 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
n/a
How to interpret this infobox

Burma Railway

The Burma Railways metre gauge(MG) was originally known as the ‘Burma State Railway’. In 1896 ‘Burma Railway Company’ was formed for the purpose of taking over the working of the original system and extending it by the construction of other lines, particularly one from Mandalay to Kunberg. The railways taken over by the Company from Government in 1896 comprised the following lines:-

• Rangoon to Prome on the Irrawady river Formed as a private company, in 1896 the (BR) took over the three state railways of operating in Burma under a guarantee provided by the Government of India.
• Rangoon to Mandalay, and thence to the bank of the Irrawaddy, opposite Sagaing
• Sagaing to Myitkyina with a branch to Katha, whence there is communication by river to Bhamo.

The above paragraph is taken directly from the Administration Report on Indian Railways 1918

History

Following the merger of the Irrawaddy Valley State Railway, the Sittang Valley State Railway and the Mu Valley State Railway to form the Burma Railway (BR), construction continued on various projects . In 1905 the network was 1340 miles(2157km); expanding by 1916 to 1598miles(2572km) ; by 1937 the system length was 2051 miles(3301km) .

In 1928, BR was dissolved and the railways in Burma were brought once again under direct government control, being renamed Burma Railways. In 1937, Burma was split from India and political control passed to the newly-formed Burma Office.

The infamous Thailand-Burma Railway, constructed between 1942-1943 by Allied POWs under the direction of their Japanese captors, is at present outside of the scope of this article.

Railways in Burma in 1900

Burma Railway System 1937 Map

Neighbouring countries Railway Link Proposals

• Assam-Burma Connection Railway Project. A series of proposals from 1892 onwards to link India and Burma by rail; eventually all were dropped.
• Burma-Yunnan Railway Project. A project to connect the Burma Railway network to the China’s south-western Yunnan province. Construction started in 1938 and was abandoned in the early 1940’s

Burma Railways Network

The following is extracted from the 1937 ‘History of Indian Railways with a total open mileage of 2060 miles(km)

• Irrawaddy Section 161 miles(km), opened 1877, Rangoon to Prome, formerly the ‘Irrawaddy Valley State Railway’- see separate page
• Sittang Section
  • ‘Main Line’, 106 miles(km), opened 1884-85, Rangoon via Nyaunglebin to Toungoo, formerly a part of the ‘ ‘Sittang Valley State Railway’ - see separate page
  • ‘Suburban Lines’, 9 miles(km), opened 1880-90, ‘Worked for goods traffic only’
  • ‘Cantonment Branch’, 9 miles(km), opened 1911 from Malagon to Bauktaw; extended via Kanba to Cantonment 1926
• Mandalay Section
  • ‘Main Line’, 236 miles(km), opened 1888-89 from Toungoo via Pyinmana and Yamethin to Mandalay, 219 miles(km), formerly a part of the ‘ ‘Sittang Valley State Railway’ - see separate page ; final 17 miles(km) extended from Mandalay to Madaya 1927
  • ‘Myingyan Branch’, 70 miles(km), opened 1893 from Thazi to Meiktila; final 57 miles(km) extended from Meiktila to Myingyan 1899
  • ‘Mandalay Shore Branch’, 2½ miles(km), opened 1889 from Mandalay to Mandalay Shore
• Mu Valley Section
  • ‘Main Line’, 340 miles(km), opened 1891 from Sagaing (facing Mandalay) reaching Myitkyina in 1898, formerly a part of the ‘Mu Valley State Railway’ - see separate page
  • ‘Sagaing-Aloa Branch’, 70 miles(km) from Ywataung to Aloa, opened 1900
  • ‘Katha Branch’, 15 miles(km) from Naba to Katha
• Mandalay-Kunlong Section 178 miles(km), opened in stages 1898 from Mychaung reaching Lashio 1903
• Bassein-Hezada-Letpadan Section 110 miles(km), opened in stages 1902 from Bassien to Henzada in 1903, and by 1904 reaching Tharawaw on the east bank of the Irrawady river to Letpadan
  • ‘Pegu-Martaban Extension’, 123 miles(km) opened 1907 from Pegu to Martaban (opposite Moulmein)
  • ‘Henzada-Kyangin Extension’, 66 miles(km) opened 1907-08 from Henzada to Kyangin
  • ‘Southern Shan States Section ‘, 98 miles(km), opened in stages from Thazi to Augban 1912-14; extended to Hebo in 1921 and to Shwenyaug in 1928
  • ‘Pyinmana-Taungdwingyi -Kyaukpadaung Section’, 139 miles(km), opened 1922-24 in stages from Pyinmana to Taungdwingyi; extended to reach Kyaukpadaung in 1930
  • ‘Alon-Ye-u Section’, 49 miles(km), opened in stages from 1922 from Alon reaching Ye-u in 1926
  • ‘Moulmein-Ye Railway’, 89 miles(km), opened in stages in 1923 from Moulme reaching Ye in 1925
  • ‘Pegu-Kayan-Thongwa Section’, 48 miles(km) opened in stages in 1927 from Pegu to Kayan and reaching Thongwa in 1928
  • ‘Nyaunglebin-Madauk Railway’, 11 miles(km) opened in 1929 from Nyaunglebin to Madauk
  • ‘Myingyan-Nalogyi-Paleik Railway’, 42 miles(km) opened 1929-30 from Myingyan to Paleik

Connection Line to Burma Railway

• Burma Mines Railway. Opened 1907, private NG railway to transport locally mined silver; connecting to Lashio branch of BR; independent until after 1947

Railways aquired by BR

Madaya Light Railway. Unassisted private company, 1912; Purchased by Government of India(GoI) 1923, passed to BR; closed 1927

Coal Supplies

From 1891 coal for the BR was partly supplied from the Kebwet Mine, the coal was carried by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company(IFC) . By 1923 23,000 tons of coal had been extracted and carried by IFC. The coal was of inferior quality and supply ceased in January 1905. See separate page for further information

Railway Constructiuons

• Ava Road/Rail Bridge crossing Irrawaddy River connecting Mandalay and Sagaing, 16 span steel truss bridge 1128 metres in length, opened 1934, partially destroyed 1942, reconstructed 1954 , .

Records

Refer to FIBIS Fact File #4: “Research sources for Indian Railways, 1845-1947” - available from the Fibis shop. This Fact File contains invaluable advice on 'Researching ancestors in the UK records of Indian Railways' with particular reference to the India Office Records (IOR) held at the British Library

An on-line search of the IOR records relating to this railway gives many references. The most important being:-

• L/AG/46/7 “Records of the Burma Railways Company, 1896-1921”
• L/AG/46/28 “Records of the India Office relating to the Burma Railways Company 1897-1927”

Personnel Records

• L/AG/46/7/17-18 “Records of the Burma Railways Company, which includes lists of employees, 1898-1921”
• L/F/10/250 "Records of service: Officers employed by the Burma Railways Co Ltd. Half-yearly Staff lists 1922-1928"
• WO325/12 A list of medical officers on Burma/Siam Railways 1945 at UK National Archives Also notes next of kin and their addresses.

This railway was a State Railways and the following IOR records relating to Staff employment are held :-

• L/F/8/1-20 "Appointments to State Railways made in the UK 1855-1946"
• Z/L/F/8/1-2 "Index to Appointments to State Railways made in the UK 1855-1946"

In 1906 Walter Home was appointed as Managing Director of the ‘Burma Railway Company’ due to his previous managing the [[Jodhpur-Bikaner Railway], a metre gauge line on most profitable basis. When taking charge, Burma Railway had about 600 miles of route open for traffic. He served as Managing Director for about two decades. And at the close of his era, Burma Railway extended its operations over 1800 miles. The situation has not changed much since Walter Home's time .

The following staff from the Public Works Department are listed in the 1905 Civil List, and other sources, as being posted to Burma Railway; in approximate date order:-

• Frederick Robert Bagley, 1883, posted to Burma Railway as Executive Engineer, Survey; 1897 Superintending Engineer and 1903 Chief Engineer of Burma Railways .
• Frederick Lewis Dibblee, 1886-88, posted to Burma , in chargeToungoo-Mandalay Division .
• Abraham Robert Lilley, from 1887, Executive Engineer, Burma Railway .
• Henry Rigg, 1889, Manager and Engineer-in-Chief Burma State Railways .
• John Walker Buyers, 1890, posted to Burma Railway as Superintending Engineer until retirement in 1891; prior to this he was deployed to Mu Valley State Railway which was absorbed into Burma State Railway.
• Edward Henry Clementson, 1890, posted to Burma Railway as Executive Engineer .
• Cornelius Edward Cardew, from 1890's, Burma State Railway, Locomotive Superintendent; 1892, Indian Railway Conference Association, Lahore. 'Locomotive Superintendents Conference' delegate representing Burma Railway ; Lieut.-Colonel of the Burma Railway Volunteers.; 1906, Retired
• Charles Albert Bull, 1891 September, posted to Burma Railway as Superintendent of Works, promoted 1892 June to Superintending Engineer .
• Hugh Lewin Monk, 1895, Officiating Manager ; prior to this he was deployed to Mu Valley State Railway which was absorbed into Burma State Railway.
• Frederick Benbow Hebbert, 1896, Officiating Manager .
• Reuben William Roberts, 1896, Executive Engineer 'on loan to Burma State Railway' .

Further Information

• Wikipedia "History of Rail Transport in Burma"