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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 1,000,000''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''." <sup>1</sup>
The '''Eastern Bengal Railway''' Company (EBR) was formed in 1857 for "the construction and working of a line from [[Calcutta]] to [[Dacca]], with a branch to [[Jessore]]. Capital 1,000,000''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'' " <ref> "Money Market and City Intelligence", ''The Times'', Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a. </ref>.
== 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 Eschamutter and Koormar 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 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]].
<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228649/8330.pdf  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 Jun 2016</ref>


== History ==
[[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>.
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]].
<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228649/8330.pdf  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</ref>


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 EBR became the '''Eastern Bengal State Railway'''(EBSR), owned and managed by the Government of India([[Government of India |GoI]]), on 30 June 1884.
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*'''L /AG/46/30 '''  “Records of the India Office relating to the Eastern Bengal Railway Company; 1885-1920”
*'''L /AG/46/30 '''  “Records of the India Office relating to the Eastern Bengal Railway Company; 1885-1920”


The following employment records are relevant :-
==Personnel==
*'''L/AG/46/10/35''' “Contracts of appointment (1862-1869)” See index on [http://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=904&s_id=243 Fibis Database]
The following employment records held in the IOR are relevant :-
*'''L/AG/46/10/35''' “Contracts of appointment (1862-1869)”  
*'''FIBIS database''' [http://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=1068&s_id=323  List of Indian Railways UK Contracted Staff taken from IOR Series L/AG/46/12].
 
The above is partially indexed in
The above is partially indexed in
*'''Z/L/AG/46'''  “Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways (1849-1925)”
*'''Z/L/AG/46'''  “Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways (1849-1925)”
Line 175: Line 183:
*'''L/AG/46/10/35'''  “Lists of staff, 1879-1881”
*'''L/AG/46/10/35'''  “Lists of staff, 1879-1881”


==Personnel==
'''[[Eastern Bengal Railway Personnel]]'''  gives details of EBR staff from several other sources:-
*[[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.
*“India  Civil List 1890”  <ref>Fibis Records, scans of original ” </ref>  and the " India List and India Office List, 1905" <ref>[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=b2NPAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PR14 " India List and India Office List, 1905"] Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016</ref>  for [[Public Works Department]] Railway Branch  or  [[:Category:State Railways|State Railways]] personnel deployed to EBR gives a number of entries.  The most notable of these have been listed.  
* [[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. .
*"Grace's Guide ” for notable personnel <ref>[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Main_Page  “Grace’s Guide”];  Retrieved  2 Jun 2016</ref>
 
*Wikipedia
== Notes ==
<sup>1</sup> "Money Market and City Intelligence", ''The Times'', Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 06:41, 3 June 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 Company (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. 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 Eschamutter and Koormar river bridges before returning to Britain in 1861. He returned to India in 1865 and became Chief Engineer and Agent [2] [3].

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. [4]

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 State Railways. Prestage resigned from EBR and in 1879 set up the Darjeeling Steam Tramway Company [5].

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. [6] [7] [8]

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 [9] 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”

Personnel

The following employment records held in the IOR are relevant :-

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”

Eastern Bengal Railway Personnel gives details of EBR staff from several other sources:-

  • “India Civil List 1890” [10] and the " India List and India Office List, 1905" [11] for Public Works Department Railway Branch or State Railways personnel deployed to EBR gives a number of entries. The most notable of these have been listed.
  • "Grace's Guide ” for notable personnel [12]
  • Wikipedia

References

  1. ↑ "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia "Bradford Leslie"; Retrieved on 5 May 2016
  3. ↑ 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
  4. ↑ 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 Jun 2016
  5. ↑ “Eminent Railwaymen of Yesteryears” by R R Bhandari July 2008, reproduced by IRFCA Indian Railways Fan Club Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016
  6. ↑ " 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
  7. ↑ Banglapedia "National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh" Railway; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
  8. ↑ "Brief History of Bangladesh Railway" Bangladesh Railway Information; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
  9. ↑ British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 22 Jan 2016
  10. ↑ Fibis Records, scans of original ”
  11. ↑ " India List and India Office List, 1905" Retrieved on 2 Jun 2016
  12. ↑ “Grace’s Guide”; Retrieved 2 Jun 2016
Retrieved from "https://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Eastern_Bengal_Railway&oldid=62360"