Category:State Railways

The continued slow pace and high cost of railway construction during the 1860s convinced the then Viceroy, Sir John Lawrence, that metre gauge offered significant advantages over broad gauge, such that the speed of laying track could be increased while driving down its cost. Also, that the only way to resolve the lack of risk capital was by direct Government involvement. Thus emerged the concept of the State Railway in the early 1870s - planned, built and run by the Government of India (GOI).

Annual figures for track mileage constuction began to increase but further famines during the late 1870s (which struck at the GOI's ability to raise taxes) and the cost of the Second Afghan War again highlighted the need for further change. Once more, the British Government in Westminster sought to attract private capital, and, if that failed, to provide direct assistance. At the same time, and in an effort to reduce the load on the Imperial budget, the GOI began to encourage the various independent Princely States to come forward with their own railway schemes.