Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway
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System timeline
Constituent companies / lines
	Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway
	Powayan Light Railway
from 1891	Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway
before 1891	Lucknow-Sitapur-Sihramau Railway
before 1891	Bareilly-Pilibheet Provincial State Railway
Key locations
Headquarters	Izatnagar
Workshops
Major Stations	Bareilly, Lucknow, Mailani, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur
Successor system / organisation
1943	Oudh and Tirhut Railway
System mileage
Metre gauge	331 miles (1905) 687 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
How to interpret this infobox

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway
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Line of route
Bareilly to Kathgodam
Gauge / mileage
Metre gauge	54 miles (1905)
Timeline
1882	Company registered
1884	Open to traffic
Key locations
Presidency	Bengal
Stations	Bhojeepura, Laikua, Haldwani
System agency
	Worked by Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway
How to interpret this infobox

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway (R&KR) was a metre gauge(MG) railway whose northern terminus at Kathgodam served the submontane belt of the United Provinces between Lucknow and Moradabad, as well as a number of hill stations, such as Naini Tal.

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway 1909

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway 19319

The ‘Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company’ started construction and working of a railway line from Bhojeepura (near Bareilly) to Kathgodam under a contract dated 12 Oct 1882. This was the original main line and opened on 12 Oct 1884 and ran 54 miles(84km) in a north-westerly direction to Kathgodam.

In 1906 the R&KR extended the line from Bareilly to Soron where it joined existing MG line to Kasganj. The Kasganj-Soron Section had been constructed by the State Government in 1885 as part of the Rajputana-Malwa Railway(RMR) Cawnpore-Achnera Line and in 1906 was passed to the R&KR. The extensions from Moradabad to Kashipur., Kashipur to Ramnagar and Lalkuan to Kashipur were completed by 1908 .

The railway was progressively extended and by 1912 the R&KR covered 256 miles(412km); and the R&KR also worked the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway 296 miles(476km) and together with the Powayan Light Railway; giving a total network of 592 miles(953km) .

The lines from Pilibhit to Carewganj and Shabaznager were completed by 1916

The R&KR also had working agreements with both the MG Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway and the NG Powayan Light Railway. The three railways were worked using shared facilities but retaining separate identities. See ‘Lines Worked’ and ‘Records' below

Company History

The Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company, Limited, was a Joint Stock Company with limited liability, having its registered office in London . The company was privately owned and worked from formation in 1882

In 1883 Alexander Izat was appointed Director, prior to this he was employed by the Railway Branch - Public Works Department (PWD) where he had served in various parts of India and was instrumental in initiating and carrying out many metre-gauge extensions. He represented R&KR at the Indian Railway Conference Association and remained as Director, until his retirement in 1904. In 1918 he is recorded as being R&KR Chairman with headquarters in London

The R&KR remained a private Company until nationalisation in 1943 when it was amalgamated with the Bengal and North-Western Railway(B&NWR), with which it had been closely associated, and the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, to form the Oudh and Tirhut Railway(O&TR).

In turn, in 1952, the Oudh and Tirhut Railway became part of 'North Eastern Railway', a zone of Indian Railways.

Lines owned and operated by R&KR

Information mainly based on the “Administration Report for Railways 1918” .

• Bhojeepura-Kathgodam R&KR Mainline from Bhojeepura (near Bareilly to Kathgodam , 1884; 54 miles(84km)
  • ‘Kasganj Extension Line’ from Bareilly to Soron, 1885; to Kasganj, 1906; 63 miles(100km)
  • ‘Ramnagar Extension Line’ from Moradabad to Ramnagar, 1907-8; 48 miles(76km)
  • ‘Kashipur Extension Line’ from Lalkua to Kashipur, 1907; 36 miles(57km)
  • ‘Shahjahanpur Extension Line’ from Pilibhit 1911; reaching Shahjahanpur 1916; 56 miles(89km)

Lines worked by R&KR

• Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway(LBSR), was formed in 1891 from the merger of the Lucknow-Sitapur-Sihramau Railway and Bareilly-Pilibheet Provincial State Railway . The metre gauge(MG) railway formed an alternative northern "loop" between the cities of Lucknow and Bareilly to the broad gauge(BG) main line of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway. The MG of 198 miles (317km) in 1891; extended to 312 miles(500km) by 1914 .
• Powayan Light Railway, from the 17 Dec 1900, a 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG)line of 39 miles(62km) length .

Lines Surveyed/Proposed by R&KR

• ’Kathgodam-Nainital Branch’, proposed by private enterprise in 1895 for the development of Kuaon and Nainitial districts. It was to be a 2ft/610mm narrow gauge(NG) line, 13 miles(21km) line at estimated cost RS.12 lakhs. The concession lapsed in 1898 .
• ’Philibhit-Sitapur Railway’, sanctioned for survey 1905-6; MG line from Pilibhit - Bisalpur to Shahjahanpur and thence to Sitapur, a length of about 105 miles(168km) . The 'Philibhit - Shahjahanpur Section’ was constructed by R&KR as ’Shahjahanpur Extension Line’, opened 1911-16 - see above; the extension to Sitapur was still to be constructed in 1916.
• ’Dudhwa Branch Extension’ and ‘Ramnager Ghat Extension’, first proposed in 1895 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway(LBSR) – see for information .
• Pilibhit-Barmedo Branch]], surveyed in 1903 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway(LBSR) – see for information

Records

An on-line search of the IOR records relating to this railway gives many references. The most important being:-

• L/AG/46/35 “ Records of the India Office relating to the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company; 1882-1931"
• L/F/7/2382-2391 “Collection 380: Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway, date unspecified"

Personnel Records

There are no personnel or staff records held in the India Office Records (IOR) held at the British Library

There is a photograph dated 1911 in the British Library ‘Satow Collection’:

"Miscellaneous Portrait Groups of Railway Officials" Photo 1082/13(4) with the following Catalogue Note :-

Officers of Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway, Feb. 1911. Group portrait of railway officials, with identifications written on mount as follows:

• front row, seated on ground: Kellie, Edwards, Welsh;
• second row, seated: Bruce, Izat, Finlayson, Robb, Ralston;
• third row, standing: Steyn, Bannister, Storrar, O'Brien, Irons, Young, Smith;
• back row, standing: Sandes, Donaldson, Will, Clark, Addis

The R&KR officers detailed above have not been identified at the present time.