Eastern Bengal Railway
| 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
- Budge-Budge Branch Railway opened 1890. Branch line of EBR
- Canning Branch Railway opened 1862-63. Branch line of EBR
- Chitpur Branch Railway opened 1873. Branch line of EBR
- Dalsingpara Branch Railway opened after 1811. Branch of Jainti Section of EBR ; under construction in 1911
- Dhubri Branch Railway opened 1902. Branch of Assam Section of EBR.
- Faridpur Branch Railway opened 1898-99. Branch from Poradaha Section of EBR
- Gauhati Branch Railway opened 1906. Part of Assam Section of EBR incorporating part of Kaunia-Dharlia State Tram/Railway; extended up to 1909
- Goalundo Branch Railway opened 1862. Branch from Poradaha Section of EBR ; extended up to 1882.
- Godagari Ghat Branch Railway opened 1909. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR
- Jainti Branch Railway opened 1900-1. Branch of Jainti Section of EBR
- Jagannathganj Ghat Branch Railway opened c.1887?. Branch from the Dacca Section of EBR (Narayanganj to Bahadurabad Ghat section
- Jogbani Branch Railway opened 1887. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR ; extended 1909
- Kankurgachi Chord Railway opened 1907. Short connecting section of EBR
- Katihar Branch Railway opened 1883. Branch of Katihar Section of EBR ; opened 1883 and extended 1889
- Kaunia-Bonarpara Extension Railway opened 1905. Extension to EBR network
- Khulna Branch Railway opened 1883-4. Originally Bengal Central Railway; in 1905 became Branch line of EBR
- Kishanganj Branch Railway opened 1892. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR
- Kurigram Branch Railway opened 1882. Branch line of Eastern Bengal State Railway
- Lalgola Ghat Branch Railway opened 1905. Branch line of EBR ; opened 1905, extended 1907
- Lalmonirhat-Gitaldaha(Geetaldaha) Railway opened c.1900. Link between Bengal Dooars Railway and Cooch Behar State Railway.
- Manihari Branch Railway opened 1887. Branch from Katihar Section of EBR
- Murshidabad Branch Railway opened 1909. Branch line of EBR
- Patipukur Loop Railway opened 1904. Chord line of EBR for goods
- Raiti Branch Railway opened 1910. Branch from Poradaha Section of EBR
- Tanga Branch Railway. Branch of Assam Section of EBR ; under construction, 1911
Railways absorbed into EBR
- Bengal Central Railway opened 1882. Private company without guarantee; merged into EBR , 1905
- Bengal Dooars Railway(BDR) opened 1893. Independent Company operation small MG network; merged into EBR , 1941
- Brahmaputra-Sultanpur Railway opened 1899. Amalgamated with EBR , 1904 together with Phulchari Branch Railway and Santahar-Kaunia Loop Railway.
- Calcutta and South Eastern Railway opened 1862. Surrendered to GoI , 1 Apr 1868; Worked by State, 1868-70; by EBR, 1870-74; merged into EBR, 1884
- Cooch Behar State Railway opened 1893. State railway, worked and finally bought by EBR c.1899
- Dacca State Railway opened 1885. Formerly Narayanganj-Dacca-Mymensingh State Railway ; merged into EBR , 1887; becoming Dacca Section of EBR
- Diamond Harbour Line Railway opened 1862. First opened as Calcutta and South Eastern Railway; merged into EBR , 1884
- Kaunia-Dharlia State Tram/Railway opened 1884-85. Constructed by EBR as NG Tram, converted to NG, 1901; part to EBR Gauhati Branch ; part to BDR Kurigram Branch
- Kaunia-Kurigram Railway opened c.1885. Narrow gauge(NG); merged into EBR 1887; converted to metre gauge 1928/29.
- Mymensingh-Jamalpur-Jagannath Railway opened 1898. Owned by Indian General Navigation and Railway Company; worked and finally purchased by EBR
- Northern Bengal State Railway(NBSR)opened 1877. Merged into EBR , 1887; becoming the EBR North Bengal Section
- Poradah Branch Railway opened c.1880. Constructed by Northern Bengal State Railway(NBSR) but worked by EBR; apparently taken over by EBR c.1913
- Ranagat-Bangaon Railway opened 1882. Opened as part of Bengal Central Railway; became section of EBR , 1905
- Ranaghat-Krishnagar Light Railway opened 1899. Narrow gauge(NG), via Shantipur. Constructed by Martin's Light Railways Company taken over by EBR, 1904
- Santipur-Nabadwip Light Railway opened 1898. Constructed by Martin's Light Railways Company; taken over by EBR , 1904
- Sara-Sirajgonj Railway opened 1915-16. Private company, worked by EBR, finally purchased by EBR
Lines worked by EBR at some time
- Khulna-Bagerhat Railway opened 1918-19. Narrow gauge(NG) railway; constructed in 1918. Worked by EBR
- Lalmonirhat-Gitaldaha(Geetaldaha) Railway opened c.1900. Link between Bengal Dooars Railway and Cooch Behar State Railway, jointly worked.
- Teesta-Kurigram Railway opened c.1885. Section of Kaunia-Kurigram Railway , worked by EBR
- Netrakona-Mohanganj Railway was constructed between 1912 and 1918 by the Mymensingh–Bhairab Bazar Railway Company, worked by EBR
Train Ferry Links EBR
- Pandu Ghat-Gauhati Railway opened c.1908 Link constructed by EBR to link the Amingaon-Pandu Train Ferry. Rail transhipment by ferry crossing the Brahmaputra River linking EBR system to Assam Bengal Railway(ABR)'s network. Worked by ABR; transferred to ABR, 1922
- Sara Train Ferry opened c.1899. Ferry link from EBR main line across Ganges to Sara taking Goods wagons. Operated until 1915 on opening of Hardinge Bridge
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
- ↑ 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
- ↑ " 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
- ↑ Banglapedia "National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh" Railway; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
- ↑ "Brief History of Bangladesh Railway" Bangladesh Railway Information; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
- ↑ British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 22 Jan 2016