Raniganj Coalfield Railways

Raniganj Coalfield Railways The ‘East Indian Railway’ from Howrah reached Raniganj (Raneegunge) in 1855 and extended to Sitarampur in 1865 .

This formed the first sections of the ‘Howrah-Delhi EIR mainline’. The railway was essential to access the provide a plentiful supply of high quality coal in this area.

Wikipedia gives the following referenced information and also the 1867 map:-
Coalmining in India first started in the Raniganj Coalfield. In 1774, John Sumner and Suetonius Grant Heatly of the British East India Company found coal near Ethora, presently in Salanpur community development block. The early exploration and mining operations were carried out in a haphazard manner.
Regular mining started in 1820, led by an agency house, ‘Alexander & Co’ In 1835, Prince Dwarkanath Tagore bought over the collieries and ‘Carr, Tagore and Company’ led the field. For the entire 19th century and a major part of the 20th century, Ranigunj coalfields was the major producer of coal in the country.
At the behest of William Princep, ‘Carr, Tagore and Company’ joined hands with ‘Gilmore Hombray and Co’ in 1843 to form the ‘Bengal Coal Company’, which opened up coal mining activities. Their headquarters was at Sanctoria.
Other mining companies included ‘Birbhum Coal Co’, ‘Equitable Coal Co’, ‘Madhu Roy and Prasanna Dutta Co’, [Bird and Company| ‘Bird and Co’]], ‘South Barakar Coal Co’, ‘Andrew Yule & Co’ and ‘Balmer Lawrie’.
In 1886, W.W.Hunter wrote, "Raniganj Coalfield has been estimated at an area of 500 square miles. In this ‘black country of India’, which is dotted with tall chimney stalks, many European companies are at work, besides many native firms. At first coal was raised from open workings; but regular mining is now carried on, according to the system known as ‘pillar and stall’… The miners are all drawn from the aboriginal races, chiefly Santals and Bauris, who are noted for their endurance and docility."

Further Information

The following Fibis pages give more information of the development in the Raniganj coalfields and the railways:-

• Bengal Coal Company Collieries Railways
• Equitable Coal Co. Railways
• Sripur Coal Co. Railways
• Samia Colliers Ltd Railways