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Formed 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 1845the 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 EIR dispatch was sent other information arrived and the draft dispatch was not contracted by altered passing the EIC decision back to begin railway construction until 1849 when it became one 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 three original guaranteed companies sanctioned EIR were authorised to construct experimental linesthese 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>.
Revision to 'History' paragraphs with IOR reference
The early development of the EIR was based on the significant discussions, reports and papers were being prepared and circulated as proposed in the minutes of the Honourable the Court of Directors of the [[ East India Company]](EIC), of the 7th May, 1845. In the event the EIR were given consent construct a railway from [[Calcutta]] to [[Mirzapur|Mirzapore(Mirzapur)]] and the [[North West Provinces]]. This comprehensive Report with other papers, letters and observations has been transcribed in full by Fibis as it contains significant details and analysis and is described as the [[Great Trunk Railway from Calcutta|’ Great Trunk Railway from Calcutta’ ''- see separate page for details'']].
After four years of protracted negotiation and strenuous efforts, including a direct appeal to the British Prime Minister, a contact was signed in August 1849 between the EIR and the EIC and became one of the three original guaranteed companies sanctioned to construct experimental lines. 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>
