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Add section on Independence, bullet points on books and external links
[[image:India railways1909a.jpg|thumb|250px|''General map of railways in India as of 1909'']]
'''The railways in India were subject to constant changes of ownership, amalgamations and adjustments over the years. The categorisation below is intended to be comprehensive but not exhaustive.'''
== British India ==
The early railway companies were UK companies operating in India. Later the British Government of India (GOI) owned the majority and either managed them directly or leased them back to private management. From circa 1925 the GOI began to call in the leases, operating the services directly. By 1945, most railways were both owned and managed by the GOI.
*[[:Category:Foreign Railways|Foreign Railways]]. Three small railways were built to serve foreign enclaves. These were managed by British companies but ownership of the lines could never vest in the GOI.
For a full list of railways known to have operated in British India, follow the link below.
*[[:Category:Railways|Railways index, 1845-1947]]
== Independence ==
In 1947, the year of Independence, there were 42 operational railway systems in what had been British India but the most immediate practical consideration of partition was the division of several systems to form what then became [[Indian Railways]] and [[Pakistan Railways]]; later still, the latter was to suffer further upheaval on the formation of [[Bangladesh Railway]].
== Recommended Reading ==
*Hugh Wilding, ''Research sources for Indian Railways, 1845-1947'', FIBIS Fact File No 4 (London: FIBIS, 2009). ISBN 978-0-9547-116-5-8. [This title can be ordered directly from the [http://shop.fibis.org/amazon.htm FIBIS Online Shop].]
*Hyde Clarke, [http://books.google.com/books?id=PGcBAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=simla&as_brr=1&output=html ''Colonization, Defence, and Railways in our Indian Empire''] (London: John Weale, 1857).
*J N Westwood, ''Railways of India'' (Newton Abbot: David & Charles Ltd, 1974) [out of print; a general history of the railways of India from pre 1840 to the 1970s].
*Ian J Kerr, ''Building the Railways of the Raj 1850-1900'' (Delhi; Oxford: OUP, 1995) [out of print; a detailed, academic examination with full bibliography].
*Ian J Kerr, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1F9QtYSSa0gC&printsec=frontcover ''Engines of Change : the Railroads that made India''] (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2007) [links to a Google Books preview limited to the first 35 pages].
*Laura Bear, ''Lines of the Nation'' (New York: Columbia, 2007) [essential but uncomfortable reading for Anglo-Indians with railway roots].
== External Links ==
*[http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/ ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India : New edition . . . in Council''] Vol 1, 1909 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908-1931).
*Indian Railways, [http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/financecode/ADMIN_FINANCE/AdminFinanceCh1.htm "Evolution of Indian Railways - Historical Background"] ''Indian Railway Administration and Finance''.
*[http://www.irfca.org/index.html ''The Indian Railways Fan Club''] Train spotters site about Indian Railways.
*[http://pakistanrail.com/ ''PakistanRail''] Train spotters site about Pakistan Railways.
*[http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r144.html "Modern transport in India"] ''Mike's Railway History''.
*Juland Danvers, [http://books.google.com/books?id=tp4IAAAAQAAJ ''Report to the Secretary of State for India in Council on Railways in India''], compilation of three reports, viz to end of 1859; at June 1877; and for 1877-1878 [each report is separately numbered]. Online at Google Books.
*[http://www.railwaysofraj.blogspot.com Railways of the Raj] A lively site featuring tidbits from railway life in British India.
