Pamban Branch Railway
The Pamban Branch Railway was a metre gauge(MG) single line completed in 1914 by the South Indian Railway Company(SIR). [1] The line linked the SIR network in India at Madurai with the Island of Pambam, from where there was a ferry connection to Ceylon.
Also described as the Madura-Pamban Railway in some records, it was first surveyed by Ernest Ifill Shadbolt between the years of 1888 and 1893. (see 'Personnel' below)
It involved the construction of the Pamban Viaduct across the submerged reef lying between the mainland of India and the Island of Panbam(Rameswaram) [2].
Prior to the construction of this line, traffic between India and Ceylon was carried via Tuticorin and Colombo, a route which line, which has necessitated a 12-hours' sea journey. This branch then became the main line, extended to Mandapam, on the mainland of India.
Contents
Records
An on-line search of the India Office Records(IOR) records relating to this railway [3] gives the following: -
- L/F/8/16/1095 “South Indian Railway Company Limited, Contract as to the construction and working of the Pamban Branch and the Travancore Branch; 1901"
Personnel
No Staff Lists have been found.
The “Indian Biographical Dictionary” gives Ernest Ifill Shadbolt, Public Works Department, Executive Engineer from 1888 to 1893 as 'Engineer-in-Chief of the Madura-Pamban Railway Survey also Bezwada-Madras and Tinnevelly-Quilon Railway Surveys ' [4]
References
- ↑ Wikipedia "Pamban_Bridge"; Retrieved 13 Dec 2015
- ↑ Institution of Civil Engineers "Minutes of the Proceedings" Volume 199, Issue 1915, 01 January 1915 , pages 377 –387; Retrieved 13 Dec 2015
- ↑ “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 26 Jan 2016
- ↑ “Indian Biographical Dictionary” 1915 page 390; Retrieved on 27 May 2016
