Delhi Railway
The Delhi Railway was a broad gauge(BG) railway from Amritsar to Delhi.
In June 1863 a contract [1] was issued to the ‘Scinde Railway Company’ under which the ‘Delhi Railway’ from Amritsar(Umritsar) to Delhi would be built
[2]. The finance was raised in Jun 1863 and the line opened in stages from 1867 and finally completed in Oct 1870 linking to the East Indian Railway(EIR) at Ghaziabad 305 miles(490km).
– this was one of the railways of the Scinde Railway Company - see separate page for further information on the formation and development of the Company
Background
The Scinde Railway Company was first established by deed of settlement in March 1855 and incorporated by the ‘Scinde Railway Act’ of Parliament in July 1855 after which a contract was entered with the East India Company in December 1855 for the construction of the ‘Scinde Railway’ for a line from Karachi to Kotri. This was followed by further developments which included the establishment of the ’Indus Flotilla’ steamers to connect Kotri to Multan and the construction of the ‘Punjaub Railway’ to run from Multan to Lahore and Amritsar and onward to connect to Delhi, this to become the ‘Delhi Railway’
The ‘Delhi Railway’ was to run from Amritsar to Ghaziabad, where it would link to the East Indian Railway(EIR) for a further 13 miles(21km) into Delhi on the EIR line operated under a ‘running agreement’ [3].
Survey
The survey of the route was almost certainly undertaken by the engineers from the Scinde Railway but the personnel involved and the date has not been determined
Construction
The construction of the ‘Delhi Railway’ was undertaken by Brassey & Co in partnership with Mr Wythes and Mr C.Henfrey. Mr G.P.Bidder was the consulting engineer in England and Mr Joseph Harrison the chief engineer resident in India [4] [5]
‘The firm undertook the construction of the line including all the works, and providing permanent way, station materials and partially rolling stock, at a fixed rate of £14,3630 per mile. The works included some very long viaducts over the rivers Jumma, Sutlej and Beeas, besides many minor structures over rivers which would have been thought important on any other railway’. All the ironwork and machinery were imported from England, and had to be carried upwards of 1,000 miules from the ports were they were landed. Including rolling stock, these materials weighed nearly 100,000 tons [5].
The contract gave a completion date of 3 May 1870. Construction commenced early 1865 and sections of the line were opened before this date. The eastern half of the line from Umballa to Ghaziabad (Ghazeeabad) was opened in Nov 1868 by Viceroy Sir John Lawrence.
Sutlej Viaduct - The whole railway was completed within the contract time with the exception of 7 miles(11km) across the Sutlej Valley. It had been found necessary in 1869 to lengthen the’ Sutlej Viaduct’ from ¾mile(1.2km) to 1¼ miles(2km), this section was completed and the entire line completed in Oct 1870 [5].
Opening
The line opened in stages:- Amrisar to Jullundur, 32 miles(50km), 1867-69; Jullunder via Ambala to Meerut, 1869-70; Meerut to Ghaziabad, 1867. Giving a total of 304 miles(490km) [6].
Later Developments
In 1870, the ‘Scinde Railway Company’ was amalgamated with the ‘Punjab Railway’ and ‘Delhi Railway’ Companies and renamed as the ‘Scinde, Punjaub and Delhi Railway Company’. This was covered by the ‘Scinde Railway Company's Amalgamation Act‘ of 1869 [7]. See Footnote
In 1886, the contracts expired and responsibility for the railway was transferred entirely to the Government of India(GoI). The GoI merged the ‘Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway’ with other smaller state-owned railways to create the ‘North Western Railway’.
Records
An on-line search of the IOR records using search ‘Delhi Railway’ [8] gives many references. The most relevant being:-
- L/F/8/10/845 “Scind Railway Company, Contract for the construction of the Delhi Railway; 1863”
The search in the IOR records for ‘Delhi Railway’ gives other results but refer to the East Indian Railway line to Delhi in the years 1852 to 1857 (Calcutta to Delhi via Kurnal, Allahabad and Shekoabad all being mentioned) and not to the ‘Delhi Railway’ proper.
References
- ↑ British Library ‘India Office Records L/F/8/10/845 “Scind Railway Company, Contract for the construction of the Delhi Railway; 1863”
- ↑ Google Books ‘Statute law repeals: nineteenth report, draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill by Great Britain: Law Commission, 2012 Paragraph 3.80 (pdf134) ) ; Retrieved 1 Mar 2018
- ↑ “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 53 (pdf62) ; Retrieved 1 Mar 2018
- ↑ Grace’s Guide “Brassey and Co” ; Retrieved 1 Mar 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Google Books “Life and Labours of Thomas Brassey” by Arthur Helps; pages 148-149; Retrieved 1 Mar 2018
- ↑ “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 106 (pdf115) ; Retrieved 25 Feb 2018
- ↑ H.M. Government “Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012"; pages 134-135, paragraphs 3.78-3.83 Retrieved on 2 January 2016
- ↑ British Library “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 21 Jan 2016