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 | ||
| Timeline | ||
| 1858 | 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 | ||
| Worked by Eastern Bengal Railway | ||
| 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 | |
| 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 1858 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 Clacutta to the Ganges at Kooshtee, 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 track was laid along the east bank of the Ganga to Kushthia and then across the river to Dacca. The line to Kushthia was opened in 1862, ending in Calcutta at Sealdah. The EBR became the Eastern Bengal State Railway, 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. In 1915, the system reverted to the style, Eastern Bengal Railway.
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. In 1942, the GoI merged the EBR with the Assam Bengal Railway to create the Bengal and Assam Railway.
Records
The following are held in the India Office Records at the British Library.
- L/AG/46/10/35 : Contracts of appointment (1862-1869).
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.
External links =
"Railway" Banglapedia.
"Brief History" Bangladesh Railway.
Notes
1 "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.