Great Indian Peninsula Railway

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Great Indian Peninsula Railway

The Bombay-Poona Mail in full flight about 1910
Line of route
Bombay to Raichur (SE Division}
Bombay to Jubbulpore (NE Division))
Bhusawal to Delhi
Bhusawal to Nagpur
Gauge / mileage
Broad gauge 1562 miles (1905)
Timeline
1845 Company formed
1853 First section of line open to traffic
1871 Through trains to Calcutta via Jubbulpore
Dhond-Manmad State Railway absorbed
1900 Line acquired by State
Key locations
Presidency Bombay
Stations Kalyan, Poona, Hotgi, Wadi, Ahmadnagar, Akola, Chanda, Khandwa, Itarsi, Narsinghpur
System agency
Worked by Great Indian Peninsula Railway
How to interpret this infobox
Great Indian Peninsula Railway

Great Indian Peninsula Railway device
System timeline
1900 Company re-formed to work State line
1925 Government takes over working of system
Constituent companies / lines
Great Indian Peninsula Railway
Agra-Delhi Chord Railway
Bhopal-Itarsi Railway
Bhopal-Ujjain Railway
Bina-Goona-Baran Railway
Gwalior Light Railway
1900 Indian Midland Railway
Key locations
Headquarters Bombay
Workshops Parel
Major Stations Agra, Ahmadnagar, Akola, Amraoti, Banda, Bhopal, Bhusawal, Cawnpore, Chanda, Delhi, Dholpur, Gwalior, Hotgi, Itarsi, Jhansi, Jubbulpore, Khandwa, Muttra, Nagpur, Narsinghpue, Poona, Raichur, Saugor, Wadi
Successor system / organisation
1951 Central Railway (IR zone)
System mileage
Broad gauge 2988 miles (1905)
3363 miles (1943)
2' 0" NG 183 miles (1905)
202 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
Great Indian Peninsula Railway Regiment
How to interpret this infobox
See our interactive map of
the North East Division
locations and routes on Google Maps

Like most of the early railways in India, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) was a British company, registered in London, privately owned and financed, operating under licence and guarantee from the (British) Board of Control in India and the East India Company (EIC). The GIPR was India's and Asia's first railway.

The principal economic benefit of the GIPR was the opening up of the interior to Port and City of Bombay. The narrow coastal plain of India's west side is separated from the Deccan plateau by a mountain range, the Western Ghats which rises to 3,900 feet(1200m) and which has always restricted internal communication with the Arabian Sea.

The challenge was to create two lines through the Western Ghats, one to the north-east and one to the south-east, these were fully open by 1865 in time for cotton from the Deccan to be exported from Bombay to Manchester thus filling the trade gap created by the American Civil War. The lines were exteded to link Bombay to Calcutta and Madras by 1870.

History

  • 1845. Registered as a company in 1845, with its head office in London, the Great Indian Peninsula railway initially proposed a length of 1300 miles, to connect Bombay with the interior of the Indian peninsula and to a major port on the east coast. It was meant for the purpose of increasing the export of cotton, silk, opium, sugar and spices [1].
  • 1849, at the urging of the Governor, Lord Dalhousie, the East Indian Company(EIC) sanctioned the construction of a broad gauge(BG) railway eastward from Bombay and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an act of the British Parliament. It had a share capital of 50,000 pounds. On August 17, 1849 it entered into a formal contract with the EIC for the construction and operation of an experimental line, 35 miles(56 km) long. The Court of Directors of the EIC appointed James John Berkeley as Chief Resident Engineer and Charles Buchanan Ker and Robert W Graham as his assistants [1].
  • 1859, GIPR was tasked with "the construction and working of the following lines, all of which terminate at Bombay, - viz. from Bombay, via Callian, to Jubbulpore, to meet the East Indian Railway Company's line from Allahabad, with branches to Mahim and Nagpore - 870 miles; and from Callian, via Poonah and Sholapore, to the opposite side of the river Kristna, to meet the line, via Bellary, from Madras - 366 miles - total, 1,236 miles. Capital 10,000,000ll. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent. on 8,000,000l. capital, and 4½ per cent. on 333,000l. debentures, the balance to be raised upon arrangements to be hereafter made." [2] [3].

Bombay - Callian - 33.5 miles(54km)

  • 1850-51, the first sod was turned on 31 October 1850 and the first locomotive was used in construction on 22 December 1851
  • 1853 April 16. A train, with 14 railway carriages and 400 guests, left Bombay bound for Thane, hauled by three locomotives: Sindh, Sultan, and Sahib. The 21 mile(34km) journey took an hour and fifteen minutes, it was the first section of the GIPR to be opened and the first railway for passenger service in India.
  • 1854, the railway bridge over the Thane creek was opened and on 1 May 1854 the section of the line from Thane to Callian (later named Kalyan) was opened, the construction involved a two-line Tannah Viaduct over the estuary and two tunnels. The was the first substantial railway bridge to be constructed in India and connected Bombay Island to the mainland.

North-East Line - Bombay via Callian and Thal Ghat to Jubblepore - 615 miles(990km)

The GIPR Chief Engineer James John Berkeley's proposal was to form a grand trunk communication by the north-eastern mainline between Bombay and Calcutta,

  • 1861, Callian (later named Kalyan) to Kasara section opened, a further 42 miles(68 km)[4] rising to an altitude of 948 feet(289m) above sea level at Kasara at the approach to the Thal Ghat
  • 1857-65. The Thal Ghat Railway Construction was a major project to take the GIPR mainline across the Western Ghats towards Jubblepores. The Kasara to Igatpuri section was 9.5 miles(15km) and within that distance the line had to rise to 1,918 feet(585m). The construction required 13 tunnels, 6 viaducts, including the Ehagaon Viaduct; cuttings; embankments; 15 bridges and culverts and the Reversing Station.
  • 1861-65, Igatpuri-Jalgaon-Bhusawal progressivly opened. From Bhusawal construction of the GIPR Nagpur Branch from 1863-1867.
  • 1865, with completion of Thal Ghat the mainline from Bombay reached Khandwar.
  • 1867, Nagpur Branch opened.
  • 1868 July, Robert Maitland Brereton, GIPR Chief Engineer was given responsibility for completing the connection between Bhusawal and Jubbulpore which he completed many months ahead of schedule [5].
  • 1870 March 8. The Alfred Viaduct was inaugurated and named after the Duke of Edinburgh (Alfred Ernest Albert) who was visiting India and travelled by East Indian Railway from Calcutta. The Viceroy and the Governor of Bombay, Sir Fitzgerald Seymour had come from Bombay. With the opening of the GIPR North-Eastern Line the connection at Jubbulpore to the East Indian Railway (EIR) completed Dalhousie’s dream of a Bombay-Calcutta route.

South-East Line - Callian via Bhor Ghat and Poona to meet the Madras Railway - 409 miles(658km)

  • 1856 May, the line was extended to the villages of Palasdhari(Padusdhurree) and to Khopoli(Campoolie) [6] at the approach to the Bhor Ghat. The
  • 1856-63. The Bhore Ghat Railway Construction was a major engineering challenge to take the GIPR mainline across the Western Ghats towards Madras. The construction with GIPR Chief Engineer James John Berkeley in charge involved an incline length of 15 miles(24km), 26 tunnels (totalling 2.25 miles(3.6km) in length), and 8 viaducts of masonry construction.
  • 1858, the line from Khandala to Poona section was opened to traffic [6] , this section included the Dapoorie Viaduct
  • 1858-63, during this period, the 21 km gap to Khandala was covered by palanquin, pony or cart through the village of Campoolie [6].
  • 1863, Bhor Ghat completed the mainline was through to Poona(now called Pune) and Sholapore(Solapur).
Map of GIPR in 1870

Progress from 1870

  • With the completion of the GIPR mainlines the three Presidency Capitals of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta were linked. The length of the route opened was then 1483 miles/2388 km [1].
  • 1900 June 30, the assets of the GIPR were purchased by the GoI and merged with those of the Indian Midland Railway into a "new" GIPR, managed by the old company.
  • The GIPR continued to expand its network with the addition of 'Branch Lines', 'Absorbsion' of certain railways and 'Working Agreements' on other railways (see lists that follow).
  • 1918 Administration Report on Indian Railways gives the GIPR broad gauge(BG) line length as 2668 miles(4293km); and including 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) lines, a total of 3441 miles(5331km) [7].
  • 1925 Jan 1, the GoI took over direct control of the GIPR and transferred the Allahabad to Jubbulpore branch of the EIR to the GIPR.
  • 1951. The GIPR combined with the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway, the Dholpur State Railway and the Scindia State Railway to become Central Railway, a zone of Indian Railways.

Stations

Victoria Terminus, G I P Ry, Bombay

Bombay's Victoria Terminus was both the principal station and GIPR's HQ; designed by architect Frederick William Stevens, it opened on Queen Victoria's 1887 Golden Jubilee. The GIPR had a collection of sidings spurring off to the docks in the east Bombay. There were numerous spurs to:

  • Victoria Dock 1891
  • Princes Dock 1888
  • Carnac Basin
  • Malet Basin
  • Frere Basin
  • Clerk Basin

GIPR Branch Lines and extensions - chronological order

This information from the “Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"[7]

  • Khopoli Branch, SE line; Palasdhari(Padusdhurree) to Khopoli(Campoolie) 1856: 7.24 miles. This section became a branch line on the opening of the Bhor Ghat in 1863.
  • Nagpur Branch, NE line; Bhusaval to Baderna 1863-65, to Nagpur 1867: 243.25 miles
  • Khamgaon Branch, NE line; Jalamb to Khamgaon 1870: 7.97 miles
  • Amraoti Branch, NE line; Baderna to Amraoti 1871: 5.49 miles
  • Mohpani Branch, NE line; Gadarvada to Mohpani 1872; extended to Goitoria 1896 and to new coal-fields 1900: 13.68 miles
  • Manmad Branch, SE line; Dhond to Manmad: 145.44 miles
  • Jalagon-Alalner Branch, NE line; Jalagon to Alalner 1900: 34.26 miles
  • Chalisgaon-Dhulia Branch, NE line; Chalisgaon to Dhulia 1900: 34.95miles
  • Bombay Harbour Branch, NE line; 1910: 6.19 miles
  • Itsari-Nagpur Branch, NE line; Itsari to Parasia; 1913-15: 134.42 miles; finally extended to Nagpur 1923-24 as part of Bhopal-Itsari Railway
  • Mahim Chord, NE line; Ravali to Mahim, 1914

Railways absorbed into GIPR

Lines worked by GIPR at some time - alphabetical order

Records

An on-line search of the India Office Records (IOR) records relating to this railway [8] gives 136 references. The most important being:-

  • L /AG/46/12 “Records of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company; 1845-1926”
  • L/AG/46/12A “Records of the Great Indian Peninsula Extension Railway Company; 1863-1869”

Personnel

IOR Records The following India Office Records (IOR) are relevant :-

  • L/AG/46/12/86 : GIPR Lists of appointments (officers 1849-1885; workmen 1852-1880)
  • L/AG/46/12/88 : GIPR Contracts of employment (officers 1886-1925; workmen 1881-1925)
  • Z/L/AG/46  : Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways (1849-1925)
  • Mss Eur D1184/14 : Letters to Arthur A West from G L Clowser Nov 1860-Nov

FIBIS Resources

Great Indian Peninsula Railway Personnel gives details of GIPR staff from several other sources:-

  • Grace's Guide[9]
  • Wikipedia and many other sources.

External Links

Historical books online


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Grace's Guide " GIPR 1945 Company Registration Retrieved on 3 Jul 2016 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "GIPR" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.
  3. ↑ H.M. Government “Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012"; pages 128-130 paragraphs 3.57 - 3.64 Retrieved on 3 Jul 2016
  4. ↑ Graces Guide "Great Indian Peninsula Railway - 1865"; Retrieved 3 Jul 2016
  5. ↑ The Statesman, New Delhi "The opening of the Mumbai to Kolkata railway by Michael Sandford, May 9 2016; Retrieved 3 Jul 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Wikipedia “Great Indian Peninsula Railway”; Retrieved 25 June 2016
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; pages 64-68, pdf pages 73-77; Retrieved 23 Jul 2016
  8. ↑ British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 22 Jan 2016
  9. ↑ “Grace’s Guide”; Retrieved 3 Jul 2016
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