East Indian Railway

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East Indian Railway

Howrah Station, Calcutta
Line of route
Howrah (Calcutta) to Delhi

Allahabad to Jubbulpore

Gauge / mileage
Broad gauge 1962 miles (1905)
Timeline
1849 Guarantee agreed with East India Company
1851 Construction begun
1854
1867
1871 		First train between Howrah and Hooghly
First through train to Delhi
First through train to Bombay via Jubbalpore
1880 Line acquired by State
Key locations
Presidency Bengal
Stations Agra, Benares, Hooghly, Mirzapur, Patna
System agency
1880 worked by East Indian Railway Company
How to interpret this infobox
East Indian Railway

East Indian Railway device
System timeline
1880 EIR re-formed to work line now owned by State
1925 Management of system taken over by State
Constituent companies / lines
1880 East Indian Railway
1889 Delhi-Umballa-Kalka Railway
South Behar Railway
1885 Tarkessur Railway
Jind-Panipat Railway
1925 Oudh and Rohilkhand merged into EIR
Key locations
Headquarters Calcutta
Workshops Jamalpur, Liluah
Major Stations Agra, Benares, Howrah, Patna
Successor system / organisation
1947 Eastern Division, Indian Railways
1952 split between Eastern & Northern Railways (IR zones)
System mileage
Broad gauge 2225 miles (1905)
4011 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
East Indian Railway Regiment
How to interpret this infobox

Built on the same terms and conditions as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), the East Indian Railway (EIR) was a British company, registered in London, privately owned and financed, operating under license and guarantee from the (British) Board of Control in India and the East India Company (EIC).

By 1859, the arrangements were "the construction and working of lines from Calcutta to Delhi, and from Allahabad to Juppulpore - total, about 1,400 miles. Capital - 12,731,000l. This amount has been sanctioned for the works specified, but it is probable that a larger sum will be required. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent. on 11,553,000l. capital; 4½ per cent. on 1,178,000l. debentures, convertible into shares." [1]

History

In January 1844 Rowland Macdonald Stephenson published an article in the leading daily paper, 'The Englishman', with his proposals, illustrated by a large map of India, showing the whole system of lines which he held to be most suitable for the country. This gained Government support and he returned to London after reinforcing his position with the merchants of Bengal. Back in England, Stephenson proposed formation of a company with the title “'East Indian Railway Company” [2]

The East Indian Railway Company (EIR) was formed in May 1845 with a power to raise a capital of 4 million pound sterling and Stephenson was the first Agent and Chief Engineer.

After four years of protracted negotiation and strenuous efforts, including a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister, a contact was signed in August 1849 between the EIR and the EIC and became one of the three original guaranteed companies sanctioned to construct experimental lines. It was not until August 1854 that the EIR opened its first section from Howrah to Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles (38km. On 3rd February, 1855, the first portion of the line, 121 miles(194km) from Howrah) to Burdwan ( towards Delhi), was opened by Lord Dalhousie [3].

Formed in 1845, the EIR was not contracted by the EIC to begin railway construction until 1849 when it became one of the three original guaranteed companies sanctioned to construct experimental lines. It was not until 1854 that the EIR opened its first section from Howrah to Hooghly. By 1864, the EIR had arrived in Delhi although it was not until 1871 that the Bombay-Calcutta route was completed when the GIPR reached Juppulpore.

By 1865, with the opening of the Naini Bridge (over the Jamuna River at Naini, near Allahabad), there was a through line from Howrah (on the right bank of the Hoogly River facing Calcutta) to Agra (on the left bank of the Jamuna River facing Agra, a line length of 1017 miles(1630km) [3]

In 1866 the Yamuna Railway Bridge (Delhi) was constructed in 1866 by the East India Railway (EIR) and connected the two principal cities of North India Calcutta and Delhi; this being the last link of the trunk line on this route. [4]

The Government of India (GoI) acquired the assets of the EIR on 31 December 1879 while leaving the management to the private company.

In 1887 the Jubilee Bridge was completed, crossing the Hooghly River between Naihati and Hooghly. The bridge was constructed by the EIR and connected to the East Bengal Railway(EBR) enabling freight traffic from upper India to run to the Port of Calcutta [5].

Progressive development of the EIR network continued such that by 1918 there was over 2400 miles (3840km) of broad gauge(BG) track.[6]

The GoI took over the direct running of the EIR on 1 January 1925.

'Indian Railways' - In 1952, the EIR was split to form two zones of Indian Railways. The Moradabad, Lucknow & Allahabad Division was subsuned into Northern Railway while the remainder was merged with the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (BNR) to form Eastern Railway. This latter merger was not considered a success as, in 1955, BNR was demerged to form South Eastern Railway.

Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Workshops

Organisation

By 1914, EIR was organised into the following departments, each with its own workshops with the main ones shown.

  1. Agency
  2. Audit & Accounts
  3. Carriage & Wagon - Lilloah; Allahabad
  4. Colliery
  5. Electrical
  6. Engineering
  7. Locomotive - Allahabad; Asansol; Dhanbaid; Dinapore; Jamalpur; Tundla
  8. Medical
  9. Printing
  10. Provifent Institution
  11. Stores
  12. Traffic - Calcutta (Head Office); Allahabad; Asansol; Cawnpore; Howrah; Howrah Goods; Delhi; Dhanbaid; Dinapore; Gaya; Sahebgunge; Tundla

Schools

The EIR operated many schools, of which probably the best known was Oak Grove School at Mussoorie. Oak Grove School is still associated with Indian Railways and Northern Railway.

EIR Railway Lines

Branch Lines and extensions

Railways absorbed into EIR

Lines worked by EIR at some time

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

  • L/AG/46/11 “Records of the East Indian Railway Company; 1844-1953”
  • L/AG/46/31 “Records of the India Office relating to the East Indian Railway Company; 1879-1952”

Personnel

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

  • L/AG/46/11/133-137 "Contracts of appointment, c1858-1925" (possibly not all included)

The above is indexed in

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

  • L/AG/46/11/138-141 : "Half-yearly staff lists, 1861-1890 & 1911-1922" (giving ages from 1886).

East Indian Railway Personnel gives details of notable EIR staff from many different sources.

  • These have been listed by EIR Department and in Chronological order.
  • The entries link to the Notable Railway People pages.

Thacker's Directories The following for East Indian Railways Personnel have been indexed in Grace's Guide -

East Indian Railway Company Records The following have been indexed in Grace's Guide

FIBIS resources

William Walsh was working for the East Indian Railway as a Railway Inspector at the time of the massacre, having joined c 1856-57 after retiring as a pensioned Sergeant, Bengal Artillery.
For access, see FIBIS Journals

Recommended reading

  • "The Carriage and Wagon Workshops of the East Indian Railway", The Indian Railway Gazette, 1st February 1908, page 33-35.
  • "Development of the East Indian Railway", Railway Age Gazette, 1st August 1913, Vol.55, No 5, page 191-195.
  • "East Indian Railway", The Railway Gazette, 1st November 1929, page 21-32 & 113-114.

Associated Auxiliary Force

External links

Historical books online

Published books

  • Mukherjee, Hena. The Early History of the East Indian Railway 1845-1879. Published by Firma KLM Private Limited, Calcutta 1994.

References

  1. ↑ "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a]; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
  2. ↑ Grace's Guide "Rowland Macdonald Stephenson" Retrieved on 4 Jun 2016
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Symphony of Progress: The Saga of Eastern Railway 1854-2003" published by the Eastern Railway, Kolkata 2003, page 7, 10, 14
  4. ↑ Wikipapia "Yamuna Railway Bridge (Delhi)"; Retrieved on 4 Jun 2016
  5. ↑ “Symphony of Progress - The Saga of the Eastern Railway 1854-2003”; published by Eastern Railway, kolkata 2003; page 30
  6. ↑ " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; pages 53-61; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015
  7. ↑ British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 22 Jan 2016

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