Martin's Light Railways

Martin's Light Railways
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System timeline
1898	First lines opened
1986	Last line nationalised
Constituent companies / lines
1914	Arrah-Sasaram Light Railway
1914	Barasat-Basirhat Light Railway
1903	Bukhtiarpur-Bihar Light Railway
1922	Futwah-Islampur Light Railway
1897	Howrah-Amta Light Railway
1897	Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway
1907	Shahdara-Saharanpur Light Railway
Key locations
Headquarters	Calcutta
Workshops
Major Stations
Successor system / organisation
	Some lines taken over by Indian Railways
System mileage
2' 6" NG	270 miles (1943)
2' 0" NG	62 miles (1943)
Associated auxiliary force
How to interpret this infobox

Martin’s Light Railways Co Ltd (MLR), were owned by Martin & Company. MLR operated several disparate Narrow Gauge(NG) light railways in the Gangetic plain, from Calcutta in the east to Delhi in the west.

The lines continued to operate independently long after Independence in 1947, the last being nationalised as late as 1986. At least two lines and parts of a third have been converted to broad gauge and are now part of Indian Railways.

Lines owned and worked by MLR

• Arrah-Sasaram Light Railway, opened 1914.
• Bukhtiarpur-Bihar Light Railway, opened 1902
• Futwah-Islampur Light Railway, opened 1922
• Howrah-Amta Light Railway, opened 1897
• Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway, opened 1897
• Shahdara-Saharanpur Light Railway, opened 1907

Lines worked by MLR at some time

• Barasat-Basirhat Light Railway. Private Company formed 1903, first part opened 1905, worked by Martin's Light Railways. Independent until nationalised 1955
• Ranaghat-Krishnagar Light Railway. Privately owned line, constructed and initially worked by MLR, opened in 1899. In 1904 the line was taken over by the state and became part of the NG network of Eastern Bengal Railway(EBR)

Lines constructed by MLR

• Santipur-Nabadwip Light Railway. Privately owned line constructed by MLR, opened in 1898; taken over by Eastern Bengal Railway(EBR) in 1904 as part of its NG Network.

Railways absorbed into MLR

• Arakan Light Railway formerly Buthiadaung-Maungdaw Tramway Company, opened 1913. Taken over by MLR, 1916

Records

An on-line search of the India Office Records (IOR) records held at the British Library relating to this railway gives the following:-

• Z/E/4/25/M568; “Martin, Messrs and Co., Reference; 1844-1855
• L/F/8/17/1371; ”Messrs. Martin and Co. on behalf of the Baraset-Basirhat Light Railway Company Limited, Application for construction of an extension to the Baraset-Basirhat Light Railway Local Government of Bengal”; 15 Aug 1914

These records have not been examined and may provide additional information