Calcutta and South Eastern Railway

Calcutta and South Eastern Railway
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Line of route
Calcutta to Port Canning (Matla)
Gauge / mileage
Broad gauge	29 miles (1859)
Timeline
1859	Formed as Guaranteed company
1868	Transferred to State ownership
Key locations
Presidency	Bengal
Stations	Sealdah, Ballygunge, Dhakuria, Jadabpur, Gariya, Bansra,
System agency
1868	State agency
1884	Eastern Bengal Railway
How to interpret this infobox

The Calcutta and South Eastern Railway (CSER) was formed in 1859 for "the construction and working of a line from Calcutta to the Port of the Mutlah - length, about 29 miles(45 km). Capital 250,000l. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent." ¹

The line from Calcutta to Port Canning, constructed in 1862 by the Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway, was the first railway track on the east bank of the Hooghly. It ran from what was then Beliaghata station (presently Sealdah South station) to Canning on the Matla River.

The Diamond Harbour Line Railway link was constructed by Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway in 1883.

History

In 1868, having suffered extensive losses on their Sealdah-Canning line because of floods and other problems, the directors of the CSER exercised their right to surrender the line to the Government of India in return for the capital costs. The CSER thus became the first railway in state ownership.

In 1868 the company sold the line to the Indian government (management then being leased to the Eastern Bengal Railway), and the company was dissolved in March 1870.

Records

The following are held in the India Office Records at the British Library.

• L/AG/46/4/13 : Contracts of appointment (1856-1866).

The above is partially indexed in

• Z/L/AG/46 : Index to UK Appointments to Indian Railways (1849-1925).

External Links

• ¹ "Money Market and City Intelligence", The Times, Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.
• Wikipedia