The principal economic benefit of the GIPR was the opening up of the interior to Port and City of Bombay. The narrow coastal plain of India's west side is separated from the Deccan plateau by a mountain range, the Western Ghats which rises to 3,900 feet(1200m) and which has always restricted internal communication with the Arabian Sea.
The challenge was to create two lines through the Western Ghats, one to the north-east and one to the south-east, these 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. The lines were exteded to link Bombay to Calcutta and Madras by 1870.
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History
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.
The GIPR Chief Engineer James John Berkeley's proposal was to form a grand trunk communication by the north-eastern mainline between Bombay and Calcutta,
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. The Thal Ghat Railway Construction was a major project to take the GIPR mainline across the Western Ghats towards Jubblepores. The Kasara to Igatpuri section was 9.5 miles(15km) and within that distance the line had to rise to 1,918 feet(585m). The construction required 13 tunnels, 6 viaducts, including the Ehagaon Viaduct; cuttings; embankments; 15 bridges and culverts and the Reversing Station.
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 with GIPR Chief Engineer James John Berkeley in charge involved an incline length of 15 miles(24km), 26 tunnels (totalling 2.25 miles(3.6km) in length), and 8 viaducts of masonry construction.
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].
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.
The GIPR continued to expand its network with the addition of 'Branch Lines', 'Absorbsion' of certain railways and 'Working Agreements' on other railways (see lists that follow).
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.
