Category:Railways
THIS TOPIC IS PRESENTLY A WORK-IN-PROGRESS AND LIABLE TO BROKEN LINKS AND SUDDEN CHANGE!
The railways in India were subject to constant changes of ownership, amalgamations and adjustments over the years. The categorisation below and the list at the bottom is intended to be comprehensive but not exhaustive.
The early railway companies were UK companies operating in India. Later the British Government of India (GoI) owned the majority and either managed them directly or leased them back to private management. From circa 1925 most railways were both owned and managed by the GoI.
- Guaranteed Railways included those railway companies, formed by 1859, to which the East India Company, later the GoI, guaranteed a fixed return on capital.
- Private Railways (those built without a guarantee) were few in munber - only two were formed in the period 1850-1866 and both these were re-constituted by 1870.
- State Railways were those either built and run directly by the GoI, or those where the GoI exercised its right to assume ownership (which it did gradually with all the original guaranteed railways from 1879 until 1907), or those whose promoters chose to surrender the workings to the GoI (and, in the cse of the guaranteed companies, received their capital back). From 1907, the word State was usually dropped from the name of railways in GoI ownership.
- Assisted Railways were those whose construction was assisted by the GoI, either by guaranteed return or subsidy or in some other material way.
- Indian States Railways were those built or promoted, often on similar terms to those above, by the various Princely States.
- Foreign Railways. Three small railways were built to serve foreign enclaves. These were managed by British companies but the lines could never vest in the GoI.
Records
It is important to bear in mind that railway staff records created in India before 1947 remain in India, as do the records of railways built, owned or operated by the Indian Princely States. The records that survive today in the collections held at the British Library do so because they were originally created in the UK.
Recommended Reading
Hyde Clarke, Colonization, Defence, and Railways in our Indian Empire (London: John Weale, 1857).
J.N. Westwood, Railways of India (Newton Abbot: David & Charles Ltd, 1974) [out of print; a general history of the railways of India from pre 1840 to the 1970s.]
Ian J Kerr, Building the Railways of the Raj 1850-1900 (Delhi; Oxford: OUP, 1995) [out of print; a detailed, academic examination with full bibliography.]
Ian J Kerr, Engines of Change : the Railroads that made India (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2007) [links to a Google Books preview limited to the first 35 pages].
External Links
The Imperial Gazetteer of India : New edition . . . in Council (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1931 [v. 1, 1909])
Indian Railways, "Evolution of Indian Railways - Historical Background," Indian Railway Administration and Finance
Mike's Railway History "Modern transport in India"
Subcategories
This category has the following 35 subcategories, out of 35 total.
A
- Assisted Railways (29 P)
B
- Bangladesh Railways (1 P)
C
- Coalfield/Colliery Railways (45 P)
D
- District Railway Boards (19 P)
E
F
- Foreign Railways (21 P)
G
- Guaranteed Railways (17 P)
I
- Indian Railways (14 P)
- Indian States Railways (168 P)
- Industrial Railways (356 P)
M
- Managing Agencies (53 P)
- Monorail (32 P)
N
- Narrow Gauge (NG) Railways (252 P)
P
- Pakistan Railways (2 P)
- Port Railways (19 P)
- Portable Railways (17 P)
- Private Railways (105 P)
R
- Railway Administration (10 P)
- Railway Constructions (123 P, 3 F)
- Railway Equipment Agents (8 P)
- Railway maps (286 F)
- Railway People (260 P)
- Railway Personnel Lists (8 P)
- Railway Regiments (19 P)
- Railway Surveys (46 P)
- Railway System Abbreviations (empty)
S
- State Railways (407 P)
T
- Train Ferries (7 P)
- Tramroads, Riverbed Crossings (11 P)
- Tramways (264 P)
Pages in category "Railways"
The following 200 pages are in this category, out of 1,752 total.
(previous page) (next page)N
- Necropolis Quarry Railway, Burma
- Neemuch Nasirabad State Railway
- Neemuch State Railway
- Nellikuppam Sugar Factory Railway
- Nellore District Forestry Tramways
- Nepal - Bihar, Katmandu 1911 Reconstruction Railway
- Nepal Goverment Sleeper Organisation Railway
- Nepal Government Railway
- Nepal-Janakpur Railway
- Neral-Matheran Light Railway
- Nerbudda (Broach) Bridge BB&CIR
- Nerbudda (Hoshangabad) Bridge GIPR
- Nerbudda (Itsari-Jubblepore) Bridge GIPR
- Nerbudda (Satpura Branch Line) Bridge BNR
- Nerbudda Coalfield Railway
- Nerbudda River Railway Bridges
- Netrakona-Mohanganj Railway
- Netravati Railway Bridge
- Nidamangalam-Mannargudi Railway
- Nilambur Branch Line’
- Nilgiri Mountain Railway
- Nira Right Bank Canal Construction Railway
- Nirmali Branch Railway
- Nizam Sagar Canal Construction Railway
- Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway
- Nizam's Railway
- Nizam's State Railway
- Noakhali (Bengal) Railway
- Noakhali Branch Railway
- Noamundi Iron Mine Railway
- North Bengal-Assam Connection Survey
- North Karanpura Coalfield
- North of India Tramway Company Limited
- North West Provinces & Oudh Railway
- North Western Railway
- North Western Railway - Lines operated and worked
- North Western Railway Personnel
- Northeast Frontier Railway
- Northern and Eastern Railway
- Northern Bengal State Railway
- Northern Railway
- Nowshera-Durgai Railway
- Nulhatee Railway
- Nulhati-Murshidibad Tramway
- Nushki Extension Railway
- NWR Railway Workshops
O
- O&RR Lines Owned and Worked
- O&RR Railway Workshops
- Okha Port Trust Railway
- Okhamandal State Railway
- Old Naini Bridge (Allahabad)
- Ondal Coal Co Railway
- Ondal Loop Line
- Ondal Loop Line EIR
- Ondal-Baboissola Railway
- Ondal-Sainthia Chord Line EIR
- Ondal-Sainthia Railway
- Oodeypore-Chitor Railway
- Oodgaum, Krishna River Bridge Construction Tramway
- Oomrawuttee Railway
- Ootacamund Land Reclamation Project Tramway
- Ooty Railway
- Orenstein & Koppel
- Oude and Rohilkund Railway
- Oude Province Tramway and Railway Proposal, 1855-57
- Oude Railway Company
- Oude Tramway
- Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway
- Oudh and Tirhut Railway
P
- Pachora-Jamner Light Railway
- Pachpadra Branch Line JBR
- Padrauna Sugar Factory
- Paikhel Quarry Railway
- Palana Colliery Railway
- Palanpur-Deesa Railway
- Palghat Branch Line
- Pallavaram Quarry Railway
- Pamban Branch Railway
- Pamban Viaduct
- Pandra Branch Line EIR
- Pandu Ghat-Gauhati Railway
- Panjnad Dam & Weir Construction Tramway/Railway
- Panposh-Ruipura Railway
- Parbhani-Purli Railway
- Parel Railway Workshops
- Parlakimedi Light Railway
- Parry & Company
- Patiala - Sunam Monorail
- Patiala State Monorail Trainways
- Patipukur (Pattipooker) to Belgachia Extension
- Patipukur Loop Railway
- Patna & Gaya State Railway
- Patna City Tramway
- Patna Ghat Branch EIR
- Patna Railway
- Patna-Baraich Railway
- Patna-Gaya Branch Line EIR
- Patna-Gaya Tramway, 1854
- Patree Railway
- Patri Branch Line
- Patri Railway
- Patti-Kasur Railway
- Pawayan Steam Tramway
- Pench Valley Coalfield Railway
- Peninsular Locomotive Company
- Peralam-Karailkal Railway
- Perambur Railway Workshop
- Periyar Dam and Reservoir Construction Tramway
- Persia Military Railway 1915-19
- Peshawar Cantonment-Landi Khana Mainline
- Peshawar Military Tramway
- Peshawar-Jamrud Branch Line
- Peshawar-Landi Kotal Railway
- Petlad-Bhadran Railway
- Petlad-Cambay Railway
- Petlad-Vaso Railway
- Phagwara-Rahon Railway
- Phalodi Branch Line JBR
- Philibhit Sugar Factory Railway
- Phillaur Branch Line
- Phulchari Branch Railway
- Phulji Branch Line
- Pipar Road-Ravi Light Railway
- Pipar-Bilara Light Railway
- Piplod-Devgad-Baria Railway
- Plassey, Ramnager Sugar Factory Railway
- Podanur Railway Workshop
- Podanur-Pollachi Railway
- Poiney Viaduct
- Pollachi-Palghat Railway
- Pondicherry Branch (SIR)
- Pondicherry Railway
- Poonamallee-Avardi Monorail
- Poradaha Branch Railway
- Porbandar (Ranavav) Tramway Proposal
- Porbandar State Railway
- Port Albert Victor Branch Railway
- Port Canning Rice Mill Tramway
- Port Novo Iron Works and early Locomotive Experiments
- Powayan Light Railway
- Powayan Steam Tramway Company
- Prachi Road-Kodinar Railway
- Pradhankhanta-Pathardih Chord
- Pradhankhanta-Pathardih EIR Section
- Pradhankhunta-Pathardihi Chord Line EIR
- Prattapur Sugar Factory Tramway
- Pulgaon-Arvi Railway
- Pulliarpati Quarry Branch Line
- Punjab Northern State Railway
- Punjab Railway
- Punjaub Railway
- Purna Junction-Hingoli Railway
- Purtabore Stone Quarries Tramway
- Purulia Ranchi Light Railway
- Pyinmana-Taungdwingyi Railway
Q
R
- Radhanagari Dam Construction Railway
- Raewind-Bhatinda Mainline
- Rail gauge
- Railway Board
- Railway Branch - PWD
- Railway Conference
- Railway images
- Railway system abbreviations
- Railways in the Middle Eastern Theatre
- Raipur Forestry Tramway
- Raipur-Dhamtari Railway
- Raipur-Mussoorie Electric Tram Proposal
- Raipur-Vizianagram Branch Railway
- Raiti Branch Railway
- Raiwind-Bhatinda Branch Line
- Rajgarh, Biaora-Sehore Road Construction Tramway
- Rajim Branch Railway
- Rajkot-Betti Tramway
- Rajkot-Jamnager Railway
- Rajmehal Branch Line EIR
- Rajpipla State Railway
- Rajpipla Tramway
- Rajpootana Railway
- Rajpura-Bhatinda Railway
- Rajpura-Pattiala Railway
- Rajputana - Agra District Railway
- Rajputana - Delhi District Railway
- Rajputana Territory Railways
- Rajputana-Malwa State Railway
- Rakha Copper Mine Railway
- Rameswaram Branch Line
- Ramganga Bridge
- Ramgarh Coalfield Railway
- Ramsai Branch Railway
- Ranagat-Bangaon Railway
- Ranaghat-Bhagwangola Railway
- Ranaghat-Krishnagar Light Railway
Media in category "Railways"
The following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total.
-
Izat Bridge.png 607 × 134; 126 KB
-
Kistna Viaduct GIPR c.1871.png 479 × 343; 205 KB
-
Kistna Viaduct GIPR c.1935.png 713 × 449; 288 KB