Santipur-Nabadwip Light Railway
The Santipur-Nabadwip Light Railway was a privately owned 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) line constructed by Martin's Light Railways Company. The NG line was in two parts:-
- Santipur-Krishnager Light Railway Section, 12 miles(18km) NG; this became part of the the Ranaghat-Krishnagar Light Railway when the line was opened in 1899. In 1904 amalgamated into the East Bengal Railway(EBR) system as the ‘Ranaghat-Krishnagar Branch EBR’ [1].
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The line linked at Krishnagar to the
- Krishnager-Nabadwip Light Railway Section; 17 miles(27km),which curiously was not listed in the “1918 Administrration Repor” or in “The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908”. In 1948 it was in operation as a NG railway [2].
These two sections formed the Santipur-Nabadwip Light Railway via Krishnagar. This NG railway was operational as part the Indian Railways Eastern Railway Division until c.2014. A delightful video of the NG line can be seen on U Tube[3].
The line now is part of the Indian Railways ‘Kolkata Suburban Railway - Naihati Section’ and named the ‘Shantipur Jn -Krishnanager City Jn – Nabadwip Ghat Line’. The line has been converted to broad gauge(BG) and electrified [4].
Note - Place Names, based on the “Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908”, which we take as definative.
Santipur is now named Shantipur
Krishnagar is now named Krishnanager
Nadadwip is served by Nadadwip Ghat on the east bank of the Hooghly River, not mentioned in “The Imperial Gazetteer, 1908”
Further Information
See Martin's Light Railways up to 1904,
References
- ↑ “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page48-49, pdf page 56; Retrieved 22 Nov 2016
- ↑ IRFCA NG Routes 1948; Retrieved 22 Nov 2016
- ↑ U Tube “Indian Railways: Toy Train from Shantipur via Krishnanagar to Nabadwipghat” by MrigKash 2010; Retrieved 22 Nov 2016
- ↑ Wikipedia "Kolkata Suburban Railway"; Retrieved 22 Nov 2016