The principal economic benefit of the GIPR was the opening up of the interior to external trade. The two lines up the Western Ghats were fully open by 1865 in time for cotton from the Deccan to be exported from Bombay to Manchester thus filling the trade gap created by the American Civil War.
1845. Registered as a company in 1845, with its head office in London, the Great Indian Peninsula railway initially proposed a length of 1300 miles, to connect Bombay with the interior of the Indian peninsula and to a major port on the east coast. It was meant for the purpose of increasing the export of cotton, silk, opium, sugar and spices [1]
1849, at the urging of the Governor, Lord Dalhousie, the East Indian Company(EIC) sanctioned the construction of a broad gauge(BG) railway eastward from Bombay and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an act of the British Parliament. It had a share capital of 50,000 pounds. On August 17, 1849 it entered into a formal contract with the EIC for the construction and operation of an experimental line, 35 miles(56 km) long. The Court of Directors of the EIC appointed James John Berkeley as Chief Resident Engineer and Charles Buchanan Ker and Robert W Graham as his assistants [1]
1859, GIPR was tasked with "the construction and working of the following lines, all of which terminate at Bombay, - viz. from Bombay, via Callian, to Jubbulpore, to meet the East Indian Railway Company's line from Allahabad, with branches to Mahim and Nagpore - 870 miles; and from Callian, via Poonah and Sholapore, to the opposite side of the river Kristna, to meet the line, via Bellary, from Madras - 366 miles - total, 1,236 miles. Capital 10,000,000ll. Rate of Interest Guaranteed - 5 per cent. on 8,000,000l. capital, and 4½ per cent. on 333,000l. debentures, the balance to be raised upon arrangements to be hereafter made." [2][3]
1850-51, the first sod was turned on 31 October 1850 and the first locomotive was used in construction on 22 December 1851
1853 April 16. A train, with 14 railway carriages and 400 guests, left Bombay bound for Thane, hauled by three locomotives: Sindh, Sultan, and Sahib. The 21 mile(34km) journey took an hour and fifteen minutes, it was the first section of the GIPR to be opened and the first railway for passenger service in India.
1854, the railway bridge over the Thane creek was opened and on 1 May 1954 the section of the line from Thane to Callian (later named Kalyan) was opened, the construction involved a two-line Tannah Viaduct over the estuary and two tunnels. The was the first substantial railway bridge to be constructed in India and connected Bombay Island to the mainland.
1861, Callian (later named Kalyan) to Kasara section opened, a further 42 miles(68 km)[4] rising to an altitude of 948 feet(289m) above sea level at Kasara at the approach to the Thal Ghat
1857-65. Kasara to Igatpuri section was 9.5 miles(15km) and within that distance the line had to rise to 1,918 feet(585m). The Thal Ghat Railway Construction was a major project to take the GIPR mainline across the Western Ghats towards Jubblepores. The construction required 13 tunnels, 6 viaducts, including the Ehagaon Viaduct; cuttings; embankments; 15 bridges and culverts and the Reversing Station.
1865, with completion of Thal Ghat the mainline from Bombay reached Khandwar.
1868 July, Robert Maitland Brereton, GIPR Chief Engineer was given responsibility for completing the connection between Bhusawal and Jubbulpore which he completed many months ahead of schedule [5].
1870 March 8. The Alfred Viaduct was inaugurated and named after the Duke of Edinburgh (Alfred Ernest Albert) who was visiting India and travelled by East Indian Railway from Calcutta. The Viceroy and the Governor of Bombay, Sir Fitzgerald Seymour had come from Bombay. With the opening of the GIPR North-Eastern Line the connection at Jubbulpore to the East Indian Railway (EIR) completed Dalhousie’s dream of a Bombay-Calcutta route.
1856 May, the line was extended to the villages of Padusdhurree (present day Palasdhari) and to Campoolie (present day Khopoli) [6] at the approach to the Bhor Ghat.
1856-63, the Bhore Ghat Railway Construction was a major engineering challenge to take the GIPR mainline across the Western Ghats towards Madras. The construction involved an incline length of 15 miles(24km), 26 tunnels (totalling 2.25 miles(3.6km) in length), and 8 viaducts of masonry construction.
Progress from 1870
With the completion of the GIPR mainlines the three Presidency Capitals of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta were linked. The length of the route opened was then 1483 miles/2388 km [1].
GIPR Branch lines -
1900 June 30, the assets of the GIPR were purchased by the GoI and merged with those of the Indian Midland Railway into a "new" GIPR, managed by the old company.
1910 John Edwin Dallas became Managing Director of the GIPR Company in London. Prior to his retirement from the Indian Public Works Department his final position was Senior Government Inspector of Railways [8].
1918 Administration Report on Indian Railways gives the GIPR broad gauge(BG) line length as 2668 miles(4293km); and including 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) lines, a total of 3441 miles(5331km) [7]
1925 Jan 1, the GoI took over direct control of the GIPR and transferred the Allahabad to Jubbulpore branch of the EIR to the GIPR.
The narrow coastal plain of India's west side is separated from the Deccan plateau by a mountain range which rises 1200m (3,900 ft) and which has always restricted internal communication with the Arabian Sea.
Bhore Ghat Railway Incline - between Kalyan and Poona
Civil Engineers:
Robert Stephenson [9], Consulting Engineer GIPR, based in England, 1849- until his death 1859 [10]
Arthur Anderson West, Consultant Engineer 1847 - 1867, (surveyor of the Bhore Gate Incline) [11]
James John Berkeley, GIPR Chief Engineer, 1849 - 1862 (surveyor and route designer)
GIPR Engineers: Messrs Adamson and Clowser, replaced by Messrs West and Tate in November 1859.
Construction Contractors
1855, The contract was awarded to William Frederick Faviell and work begun at Bhore Ghat on 24 January 1856 [12].
In March 1859, Faviell gave up his contract; for a short time, two GIPR engineers, Swainson Adamson and George Louis Clowser, carried on the work [12].
The GIPR construction contract was relet in November 1859 to Solomon Tredwell who died within fifteen days of landing in India. His wife, Alice Tredwell, assumed the contract and appointed Messrs Adamson and Clowser to manage the contract for her in her absence, as Mrs Tredwell returned to England. This arrangement was to last seven years [12].
Adamson and Clowser "carried on the work with the greatest zeal and ability. "Labour management could limit construction progress, but “by their good and liberal management (Adamson and Clowser) collected and kept on the work a force of 25,000 men during two seasons, and in 1861 of more than 42,000 men” [12].
Thul Ghat incline - between Kalyan and Nasik
The GIPR north-eastern route towards the Gangetic plain.
