Eastern Bengal Railway: Difference between revisions

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The following is not included in the index Z/L/AG/46.
The following is not included in the index Z/L/AG/46.
*'''L/AG/46/10/35'''  “Lists of staff, 1879-1881”
*'''L/AG/46/10/35'''  “Lists of staff, 1879-1881”
==Personnel==
*[[Bradford Leslie]] was an English civil engineer who specialised in bridges and was a pupil of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel was a consulting engineer to the [[Eastern Bengal Railway]](EBR) and Leslie was sent to India as engineer in charge of bridges and viaducts. He supervised the building of the Eschamutter and Koormar river bridges before returning to Britain in 1861 to design bridges for railway lines in South Wales. He soon returned to India as Chief Engineer of the EBR until 1876.
* [[Franklin Prestage]] was Agent for the EBR in the early 1870's. In its original contract of EBR with the Secretary of State for India, this [[Guaranteed Railways|Guaranteed Railway]] company was to open up 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 rail-lines as [[:Category:State Railways|State Railways]].  [[Northern Bengal State Railway]] (NBR) was formed as a State Railway for construction of rail-lines from the northern bank of Ganges river at Sara and built a metre gauge line to Siliguri. NBR had no plans to take the rail-line to Darjeeling as the mountain railway was considered a formidable sphere. Where EBR and NBR failed as corporate organisations, Prestage succeeded as an individual entrepreneur, he resigned from EBR  and set up the [[Darjeeling Steam Tramway]] Co. .


== Notes ==
== Notes ==

Revision as of 15:51, 26 April 2016

Eastern Bengal Railway
[[Image:|150px| ]]
Line of route
Calcutta to Faridpur (BG) with branches to
Budge Budge, Diamond Harbour, Lalgola
Gauge / mileage
Broad gauge 495 miles (1905)
Metre gauge 637 miles (1905)
2' 6" NG 55 miles (1905)
Timeline
1857 Formed as Guaranteed company
Calcutta and South Eastern Railway merger
1884 Taken over by State
Key locations
Presidency Bengal
Stations Sealdah, Dum Dum, Naihati, Kaliganga, Rajbari, Goalundo, Ranaghat, Krishnagar, Plassey, Murshidabad
System agency
1884 State agency
How to interpret this infobox
Eastern Bengal Railway

Eastern Bengal Railway device
System timeline
1884 Renamed Eastern Bengal State Railway
1915 Reverted to Eastern Bengal Railway
Constituent companies / lines
1884 Eastern Bengal Railway
Calcutta and South Eastern Railway
1887 Dacca State Railway
1887 Northern Bengal State Railway
1887 Kaunia-Kurigram Railway
Cooch Behar Railway
Mymensingh-Jamalpur-Jagannath Railway
1904 Bengal Central Railway
Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Railway
1941 Bengal Dooars Railway
Key locations
Headquarters Calcutta
Workshops Kanchrapara
Major Stations Bangaon, Jessore,
Successor system / organisation
1942 Merged into Bengal and Assam Railway
System mileage
Broad gauge 495 miles (1905)
Metre gauge 688 miles (1905)
2' 6" NG 89 miles (1905)
Associated auxiliary force
Eastern Bengal Railway Battalion
How to interpret this infobox

The Eastern Bengal Railway (EBR) was formed in 1857 for "the construction and working of a line from Calcutta to Dacca, with a branch to Jessore. Capital 1,000,000l. 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 1,000,000l." 1

History

The first construction started in October 1859 and the first train ran between Sealdah and Ranaghat in September 1862. Thereafter further phases considerably extended the reach of the line and, by 1866, it linked Calcutta to Kushtia. The company had also acquired a steam vessel service operating between Kushtia and Dacca. [1]

The EBR became the Eastern Bengal State Railway(EBSR), owned and managed by the Government of India(GoI), on 30 June 1884.

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. [2] [3] [4]

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.

In 1942, the GoI merged the EBR with the Assam Bengal Railway to create the Bengal and Assam Railway.

Branch Lines and extensions

Railways absorbed into EBR

Lines worked by EBR at some time

Train Ferry Links EBR

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 [5] gives many references. The most important being:-

  • L /AG/46/10 “Eastern Bengal Railway Company; 1856-1885
  • L /AG/46/30 “Records of the India Office relating to the Eastern Bengal Railway Company; 1885-1920”

The following employment records are relevant :-

  • L/AG/46/10/35 “Contracts of appointment (1862-1869)” See index on Fibis Database

The above is partially indexed in

  • Z/L/AG/46 “Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways (1849-1925)”

The following is not included in the index Z/L/AG/46.

  • L/AG/46/10/35 “Lists of staff, 1879-1881”

Personnel

  • Bradford Leslie was an English civil engineer who specialised in bridges and was a pupil of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel was a consulting engineer to the Eastern Bengal Railway(EBR) and Leslie was sent to India as engineer in charge of bridges and viaducts. He supervised the building of the Eschamutter and Koormar river bridges before returning to Britain in 1861 to design bridges for railway lines in South Wales. He soon returned to India as Chief Engineer of the EBR until 1876.
  • Franklin Prestage was Agent for the EBR in the early 1870's. In its original contract of EBR with the Secretary of State for India, this Guaranteed Railway company was to open up 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 rail-lines as State Railways. Northern Bengal State Railway (NBR) was formed as a State Railway for construction of rail-lines from the northern bank of Ganges river at Sara and built a metre gauge line to Siliguri. NBR had no plans to take the rail-line to Darjeeling as the mountain railway was considered a formidable sphere. Where EBR and NBR failed as corporate organisations, Prestage succeeded as an individual entrepreneur, he resigned from EBR and set up the Darjeeling Steam Tramway Co. .

Notes

1 "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.

References

  1. ↑ H.M. Government “Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012"; pages 127-8, paragraphs 3.51 - 3.55 Retrieved on 2 January 2016
  2. ↑ " 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
  3. ↑ Banglapedia "National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh" Railway; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
  4. ↑ "Brief History of Bangladesh Railway" Bangladesh Railway Information; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
  5. ↑ British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 22 Jan 2016
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