Changes

|gauge1details= 1962 miles (1905)<br>2775 miles (1918<br>4217 miles (1937)

|stations= '''[[Agra]]''', [[Benares]], '''[[Cawnpore]]''', '''[[Delhi]]''', '''[[Howrah]]''', [[Hooghly]], [[Mirzapur]], [[Patna]]''See also heading '''Stations''' for major stations marked'' '''bold'''

Formed After four years of protracted negotiation and strenuous efforts, including a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister, a contact was signed in 1845, August 1849 between the EIR was not contracted by and the EIC to begin railway construction until 1849 when it and became one of the three original guaranteed companies sanctioned to construct experimental lines. It was not until 1854 that the EIR opened its first section from [[Howrah]] to [[Hooghly]]. By 1864, the EIR had arrived in Delhi although it was not until 1871 that the Bombay-Calcutta route was completed when the GIPR reached Juppulpore.

An 1852 dispatch concerning an “Experimental Line of Railway in Bengal” shows that the section had been approved “commencing at or near Calcutta to form part of a trunk line to connect to Delhi” and that “we have lately sanctioned a second section which will extend this line to Rajmahal”. Also that it is desirable immediately to commence similar work in the Upper Provinces...” The dispatch shows a change of heart, the draft shows, “commencing with such places as Allahabad and Cawnpore” which the EIC were going to build funded by a Government loan but before the dispatch was sent other information arrived and the draft dispatch was altered passing the decision back to Government <ref>British Library IOR/E/4/818 ‘Construction of Experimental Line of Railway in Bengal’, Page 505-6, 511. Dispatch No 67, 21 December 1852 </ref>. Clearly the outcome of this was that the EIR were authorised to construct these extensions to the railway. It was not until August 1854 that the EIR opened its first section from [[Howrah]] to [[Hooghly]], a distance of 24 miles (38km. On 3rd February, 1855, the first portion of the line, 121 miles(194km) from [[Howrah]]) to [[Burdwan]] ( towards Delhi), was opened by Lord Dalhousie <ref name=SoP>"Symphony of Progress: The Saga of Eastern Railway 1854-2003" published by the Eastern Railway, Kolkata 2003, page 7, 10, 14 </ref>.  In the spring of 1857 the [[Indian Mutiny]] broke out and as a consequence a large portion of the work of construction was delayed<ref>[https://ia801404.us.archive.org/16/items/historyeastindi00huddgoog/historyeastindi00huddgoog.pdf Archive.org "History of the East Indian Railway ..." by George Huddlestone Appendix B, page 19, pdf page 40]; Retrieved 11 Jun 2016</ref>. Eight members of EIR staff lost there lives and remembered on the [[East Indian Railway 1857 Cawnpore Memorial|Memorial at Cawnpore Church]]<ref>[https://ia801404.us.archive.org/16/items/historyeastindi00huddgoog/historyeastindi00huddgoog.pdf Archive.org "History of the East Indian Railway ..." by George Huddlestone Appendix B, pages 280, pdf page 335]; Retrieved 11 Jun 2016</ref>  The line was extended to [[Rajmahal]] in October 1859 and opened by the first British Viceroy, Lord Canning on 15 October 1860. From [[Rajmahal]] EIR's lines proceeded westwards along the Ganges rapidly reaching [[Bhagalpur]] in 1861, [[Monghyr]] in February 1852 and [[Mughal Sarai]] (across the River Ganges from [[Benares]]) in December 1862. This last section included the EIR's first tunnel, the [[JamalpurTunnel]]; and the first major bridge on the route, the [[Soane Bridge]] near [[Arrah]] Locomotive workshops were established<ref name=SoP/>. On 15 January 1934By 1864, the workshops along EIR had arrived in Delhi although it was not until 1871 that the Bombay-Calcutta route was completed when the GIPR reached Juppulpore. By 1865, with the entire railway colony were destroyed opening of the [[Naini Bridge]] (over the Jamuna River at Naini, near [[Allahabad]]), there was a through line from [[Howrah]] (on the right bank of the Hoogly River facing [[Calcutta]]) to [[Agra]] (on the left bank of the Jamuna River facing [[Agra]], a line length of 1017 miles(1630km) <ref name=SoP/> In 1866 the [[Yamuna Railway Bridge (Delhi)]] was constructed in 1866 by an earthquakethe [[East India Railway]] (EIR) and connected the two principal cities of North India [[Calcutta]] and [[Delhi]]; this being the last link of the trunk line on this route. <ref>[http://wikimapia.org/621608/Yamuna-Railway-Bridge Wikipapia "Yamuna Railway Bridge (Delhi)"]; Retrieved on 4 Jun 2016</ref> The [[1870-71_Report_on_Railways#Progress_on_State_lines._Paragraphs_5-10.3B_Pages_3-4|“1870-71 Annual Report for Indian Railways“]] for the EIR gives [[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|Broad Gauge (BG)]] ‘Main Line’ 1278 miles(2057km) open and ‘Jubbulpore Line’ 224 miles(360km) open. [[1870-71_Report_on_Railways#East_Indian_Railway._Paragraph_62. It took 3 years to rebuild 3B_Page_34|The Report also gives the 'progress and commercial' summery for the facilityrailway]] - ''see separate pages for details.''

Progreesive In 1887 the [[Jubilee Bridge]] was completed, crossing the Hooghly River between Naihati and [[Hooghly]]. The bridge was constructed by the EIR and connected to the [[East Bengal Railway]](EBR) enabling freight traffic from upper India to run to the Port of Calcutta <ref> “Symphony of Progress - The Saga of the Eastern Railway 1854-2003”; published by Eastern Railway, kolkata 2003; page 30</ref>. Progressive development of the EIR network continued such that by 1918 there was over 2400 miles (3840km) of broad gauge([[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]]) track.<ref>[https://ia801009.us.archive.org/8/items/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System.pdf " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; pages 53-61]; Retrieved 17 Dec 2015</ref> The Government of India (GoI) took over the direct running of the EIR on 1 January 1925. Six divisions of the EIR were created:- Howhah, Asanol & Dinapore known as the lower divisions; Moradabad, Lucknow & Allahabad, the upper divisions.

The GoI took over In 1952 the direct running EIR was split to form two Zones of [[Indian Railways]]:-<br>‘[[Northern Railway]]’comprised the EIR on 1 January 1925.Moradabad, Lucknow & Allahabad Divisions, which were added to other railways to form the [[Northern Railway| ‘Northern Railway Zone’ - ''see separate page'']]<br>‘[[Eastern Railway]]’ ’comprised the EIR Howhah, Asanol and Dinapore Divisions, which were added to to other railways to form the [[Eastern Railway| ‘Eastern Railway Zone’ - ''see separate page'']]

==Stations== ‘Howrah Railway Station’ was the terminus of the ‘[[East Indian Railways ====Railway]]’ (EIR) from the time of the inaugural train on 15 Aug 1854. [[Howrah]] was connected to [[Calcutta]] crossing the Hooghly River first by boat then, from the early 1870’s by the [[Howrah Floating Bridge and Howrah Bridge| ‘Howrah Floating Bridge’ and finally in 1943 by the ‘Howrah Bridge’ ''- see separate page'']]* [[Agra_Railways_%26_Stations#Agra_Stations| ‘Agra Stations’]]* [[Cawnpore_Railways_and_Stations#Cawnpore_Stations| ‘Cawnpore Stations’]]* [[Delhi_Railways_%26_Stations#Delhi_Stations| ‘Delhi Stations’]]* [[Howrah_Railway_Station| ‘Howrah Station’]]

==Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Workshops ==*The first workshops to build [[EIR Locomotive Workshops|EIR Locomotives]], and [[EIR Carriage and Wagon Workshop|EIR Carriages and Wagons]] were established in [[Howrah]] and operational in the mid 1850’s.*In 19521862, the [[EIR Locomotive Workshops]] at [[Jamalpur]] were completed leaving the [[EIR Carriage and Wagon Workshop]] at [[Howrah]]. *By 1900 the new [[EIR Carriage and Wagon Workshop]] at [[Lillooah]] (3Km up line from Howrah) was split established.*On 15 January 1934, the [[EIR Locomotive Workshops|Jamalpur Locomotive Workshops]], along with the entire railway colony, were destroyed by an earthquake. It took 3 years to form two zones of rebuild the facility. ==EIR Collieries and Coal Supplies==''See separate pages''* ‘[[Indian Giridih District EIR Colliery Railways|EIR owned Collieries in Giridih District]]. The Moradabad, Lucknow & Allahabad Division was subsuned into ’ comprising:-** ‘Kurhurbaree Colliery’** ‘Seramphore Colliery’* ‘[[Northern RailwayBokaro_Ramgarh_Coalfields_Railways#Joint_Collieries|Bokaro Joint Coalfield]] while ’, the remainder was merged EIR worked jointly with the ‘[[Bengal-Nagpur Railway]] ’(BNR) to form * ‘[[Bokaro_Ramgarh_Coalfields_Railways#Joint_Collieries| Sawang Joint Coalfield]]’, the EIR worked jointly with the BNR* ‘[[Eastern Central Indian Coalfields Railway]]. This latter merger ’ , was not considered a success asowned by the Government of India until 1926 when absorbed into the EIR System, in 1955, BNR was demerged addition to form the above it served the following State Collieries:- ** ‘[[South Eastern RailwayKaranpura Coalfield]]’** ‘[[North Karanpura Coalfield]]’** ‘[[Bhurkunda Colliery]]’** ‘[[Bokaro_Ramgarh_Coalfields_Railways#The_Coalfields|Ramgarh Coalfield]]’** ‘[[Kargali Colliery]].’

# Carriage & Wagon## - [[Lillooah‎|Lilloah]]## ; [[Allahabad]]# Colliery- [[Giridih District EIR Colliery Railways|Giridih District]]

# Locomotive## - [[Allahabad]]## ; [[Asansol]]## ; [[Dhanbaid]]## ; [[Dinapore]]## ; [[Jamalpur]]## ; [[Tundla]]

# Provifent Provident Institution

# Traffic## - [[Calcutta]] (Head Office)## ; [[Allahabad]]## ; [[Asansol]]## ; [[Cawnpore]]## ; [[Howrah]]## [[; Howrah Goods]]## ; [[Delhi]]## ; [[Dhanbaid]]## ; [[Dinapore]]## ; [[Gaya]]## ; [[Sahebgunge]]## ; [[Tundla]]

==Branch Lines and extensions==*[[Barun-Daltonganj Railway]], opened 1902. Section of EIR line*[[Bhagalpur Badli Railway]], under construction 1907 for EIR*[[Calcutta Chord Railway]], opened 1931-32. EIR link from Dum Dum to Dankuni over Willindon Bridge*[[Dildarnagar-Ghazipur-Trighat Branch Railway]], opened 1880. Branch line to EIR main line.*[[Howrah-Burdwan Chord Railway]], opened 1917. Part of EIR system ==Railways absorbed into EIRLines==*[[Delhi-Umballa-Kalka Railway]], formed 1889 as private company, merged into The EIR, 1925*[[Deoghur Railway]], opened 1882. Short branch line linking important pilgrimage centre to main line, initally own agency; merged into EIR, 1911*[[Oudh owned and Rohilkhand Railway]]worked on behalf of other parties an extensive network of broad gauge(O&RR), formed from [[Indian Branch RailwayRail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]](IBR); nationalised, 1889; merged into EIR, 1925*[[Patna & Gaya State Railway]], opened before 1881. State line merged into EIR, c.1892*[[Tarkessur Railway]], opened 1884-85. Worked by EIR; Merged into EIR 1915lines.

==Lines worked by EIR at some time==*See <big>'''[[BarharwaEast Indian Railway -Azimganj-Katwa RailwayLines owned and worked]], opened c.1914. Branch'''</Loop line extension to [[Hooghlybig> for details and information:- *BG Lines -Katwa Railway]] owned and worked by EIR.*[[Central Indian Coalfields Railway]], opened 1927. [[Government of India |GoI]] owned; part BG Lines absorbed into EIR*BG Lines worked by [[Bengal Nagpur Railway]](BNR); later amagamated with EIR. at some time*BG Lines - EIR network expansion lines

*[[Hooghly-Katwa Railway]], opened c.1914. Branch/Loop line extension to [[Barharwa-Azimganj-Katwa Railway]] worked by EIR.*[[Jind-Panipat Railway]], opened 1916-17. Originally worked by ==EIR; later by [[North Western Railway]](NWR)Bridges and Tunnels==*[[Nalhati-Azimganj Railway]], opened 1863. Originally part of See <big>'''[[East Indian Branch Railway]](IBR), unique 4ft gauge; worked by O&RR, 1863-72; run as State Rly, 1872; leased to EIR, 1892.*[[Sheoraphuli-Tarakeshwar Railway]], opened 1885. Branch line opened by the [[Tarkessur Railway]] Co.; worked by EIR.*[[South Behar Railway]], opened 1899. Leased to the State by South Bihar Railway Co.; worked by EIR.*[[Thanesar-Kaithal Railway]], opened 1909. Branch line of [[Delhi-Umballa-Kalka RailwayBridges and Tunnels]]; worked by EIR, 1909.'''</big>

==Lines connected to EIR system==[[Calcutta Port Commissioners' Railway]], opened 1892 and connected to EIR in 1924 == Records ==

==Personnel==<big>'''[[East Indian Railway Personnel]]'''</big> gives details of notable EIR staff from many different sources. *These have been listed by EIR Department and in Chronological order.*The entries link to the [[:Category:Railway People|Notable Railway People]] pages.  The following employment records held at the IOR are relevant :-

*[http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_dataset&id=1989&s_id=1068 List of Indian Railways UK Contracted Staff taken from IOR Series L/AG/46/11]. FIBIS database*[http://searchfibis.fibisourarchives.org/frontisonline/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=839&s_id=243 Index to V/13/244 East Indian Railway Staff List 1914]FIBIS database

==Also seeAssociated Auxiliary Force==

**George Huddleston, [http://www.archive.org/stream/historyeastindi00huddgoog#page/n9/mode/1up ''History of the East Indian Railway''] (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co, 1906). Archive.org. [A second part, published in 1939, took the history to 1924.]