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The Assam-Bengal Railway (ABR) was a metre gauge(MG) railway built to connect the highlands of Assam with the port of Chittagong.

Assam-Bengal Railway Map 1909

Survey and Construction

The Government of India(GoI) carried out surveys for the route between 1882 and 1887. The GoI started the construction of the railway in 1891 from Gauhati to Dimapur. In 1892 the ‘Assam and Bengal Railway Co’ was formed in London to construct and operate the railway. The line was 740 miles long and the construction was divided into three sections numbered I, II and III.

• Section I, 303½ miles(490km), ran from Chittagong to Badarpur; and included the ‘Laksham-Chandpur Branch' and the ‘Badarpur-Silchar Branch’
• Section II, 115 miles(185km), from Badarpur to Lumding
• Section III, 321½ miles(517km), from Lumding to Makum where it joined 'Tinsukia Branch' of the Dibru-Sadiya Railway; and included the ‘Lumding-Gauhati Branch'

The construction of Section I and III was straightforward. Work commenced on Section I in 1892-93, and completed by 1899. Section III had been commenced by the GoI in 1891 and the ABR commenced work in 1893-94, and fully completed by 1903 .

Section II was a more complex section of the line to construct and was not completed until the end of 1903. Work commenced in 1895 and a contract was given to ‘Lewis Jones & Co’ for the construction of the earthworks and tunnels .
The Imperial Gazetteer gives the following account:- “This section runs through shale of the worst description, often intermixed with bands of kaolinite, which swells when exposed and causes heavy slips, or exerts immense pressure on the sides of tunnels. To counteract this pressure, very heavy masonry was required, cuttings had to be arched in, and special measures taken to allow drainage to escape. Though the hill section was only 113 miles in length, it container 24 tunnels, 7 covered ways, and 74 major bridges, the longest being 650 feet, and the highest 113 feet above the river bed; while many of the banks and cuttings approach 100 feet in height and depth respectively. Apart from the special engineering difficulties, great inconvenience was experienced owing to the absence of local labour and food-supplies, and to the unhealthiness of the country traversed. At one time, in addition to the railway materials, food for more than 25,000 men had to be carried into the hills on elephants, bullocks, ponies and other pack animals. The result is that the cost of construction of the hill section has been extremely heavy.”
By the end of Apr 1901 track had been laid 36 miles(58km) north from Badarpur and 40 miles(64km) south from Lumding. Track was laid throughout Section III ib May 1903 when goods trains started running. The line opened to passenger traffic on 16 Feb 1904 .

Development of the ABR

ABR Initial Line and Branches

Main Line from Chittagong Port to Tinsukia, 574 miles(924km) where it joined the Dibru-Sadiya Railway, fully opened 1903. Some records refer to this as the 'Assam Valley Branch Railway'

• Chandpur Branch Railway, 32 miles(51km), opened 1895. This is the ‘Laksham-Chandpur Branch'.
• Chittagong Port Branch Railway, opened 1895; constructed to convey tea to Chittagong port; line extended, 1903
• Silchar Branch Railway, 19 miles(30km), opened 1898. This is the ‘Badarpur-Silchar Branch’
• Gauhati Branch Railway, 113 miles(181km), opened 1897-99. This is the ‘Lumding-Gauhati Branch'

Later Extensions

The following extensions were in place by 1918 :-

• Noakhali Branch Railway, 30 miles(48km), from Laksham to Noakhali
• Tangi Branch Railway, 61 miles(98km), from Akhaura to Ashuganj, opened 1910; extended via the wagon ferry to connected through to Tangi, 1916
• Dikhow Extension Railway, 6.7 miles(10.7km), from Sibsagar Road to Bihubar, opened 1913
• Naginimara Branch Railway, 2.3 miles(3.7km), from Bihubar

to Naginimara, opened 1917

• Bhairab Bazar Branch Railway , opened 1910
• Hajiganj-Shatnal Railway Survey. Branch line surveyed by ABR, 1897; still pending 1906; apparently not constructed
• Sylhet Branch Railway, under construction 1911, completed 1916 with opening of Kusiyara Bridge.

Lines worked by ABR

• Noakhali (Bengal) Railway, opened 1902; Worked by ABR until merged into ABR 1906
• Pandu Ghat-Gauhati Railway, opened 1908, Link constructed by Eastern Bengal Railway(EBR) from Amingaon-Pandu Train Ferry to ABR network; worked by ABR; transferred to ABR 1922
• Chaparmukh Silghat Railway, opened 1908 and being worked by ABR 1919
• Mymensingh-Bhairab Bazar Railway; Constructed 1912-18, worked by ABR
• Netrakona-Mohanganj Railway Constructed 1912-18, worked by ABR; part of Mymensingh-Bhairab Bazar Railway
• Katakhal Lalbazar Railway; Under construction 1921 by private company; worked by ABR, 1923

The end of ABR

On 1 January 1942 the ABR combined with the Eastern Bengal Railway(EBR) to form the Bengal and Assam Railway. At time of partition in 1947 the Bengal and Assam Railway was split up .

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 65 references. The most important being:-

• L/AG/46/1 “Records of the Assam Bengal Railway Company; 1892-1941”
• L/F/7/141-145 “Finance Department - Assam Bengal Railway Company; 1892-1941”

As a state managed railway a search of the following may provide information: -

• 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"

Personnel

The 1905 Civil List records the following deployment from the Public Works Department - State Railways:-

• Boswell Parkinson Milsom, Executive Enginner, '1893-96, on loan to the Assam-Bengal Railway Company .

External links

• The Assam-Bengal railway: 'The Romantic East: Burma, Assam, and Kashmir by Walter del Mar (1852 - 1944); Chapter XII, pages 107-8. Published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 1906. and reproduced at http://www.irfca.org/docs/history/romantic-east.html
• Take this train at your own peril by Jaideep Mazumdar February 23, 2013 timescrest.com. "The rail route through the Borail Hill Range between Lumding and Badarpur in Assam is considered to be an engineering marvel with 37 tunnels and a series of stunning bridges and viaducts spanning deep gorges and ravines. During the construction of this rail line, which took 11 years (it was completed in 1903) many died of malaria, diarrhoea, other diseases, attacks by wild animals. There were also killer landslides".