Scinde Railway

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Scinde Railway

Note

  • Some documents and references refer to the ‘Sind Railway’ which is not the correct spelling.'
  • Not to be confused with the ‘Sind Light Railway’ which is a separate narrow gauge railway.

History

The Scinde Railway Company was first established by deed of settlement in March 1855 and incorporated by the ‘Scinde Railway Act’ of Parliament in July 1855. The company contracted with the Government of India (GoI) to construct a line between Karachi and Kotri. The company was granted a 5% return on investment up to a maximum of £1 million in order to build the 120-mile line. [1] [2]

The Karachi-Kotri (Indus River) Railway work commenced in April 1858 and on 13 May 1861 succeeded in connecting Karachi to Kotri. This was the first railway line for public traffic between Karachi City and Kotri, a distance of 108 miles (174 km). [3]

The company was involved in a number of additional railway line projects, as well as the establishment of the Indus Flotilla Company on the river Indus. The ‘Scinde Railway Act' of 1857 [1] granted it the opportunity to extend its operations.

In 1870, the Scinde Railway Company was amalgamated with the Punjab Railway and Delhi Railway Companies and renamed as the Scinde, Punjaub and Delhi Railway Company. This was covered by the ‘Scinde Railway Company's Amalgamation Act‘ of 1869[1]. See Footnote

In 1886, the contracts expired and responsibility for the railway was transferred entirely to the Government of India(GoI). The GoI merged the Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway with other smaller state-owned railways to create the North Western Railway

Footnote

  • The spelling of Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway is variable. Scinde and Punjaub are the spellings adopted in the legislation - see "Government Statute Law Repeals 2012" pages 134-135, paragraphs 3.78-3.83 [1]

Records

An on-line search of the India Office Records (IOR) records held at the British Library relating to this railway [4] gives the following:-

  • Z/E/4/25/I53; “Indus River, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
  • Z/E/4/25/R766; “Rivers, Indus, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
  • L/AG/46/17/1-13; “1. Scinde Railway Company”; 1855-1878

Personnel

  • John Brunton; 1857, Appointed Chief Resident Engineer of Scinde Railway (Sind Railway) [5]; 1858-62, 'Supervised the construction of the 108 miles(174km) of the Scinde Railway between Karachi and Kotri until its completion in 1862. His detailed "Description of the line and works of the Scinde Railway" [6] itemise the problems of building in the tropics.'

Historical books online

External links

Further Information

See Karachi-Kotri (Indus River) Railway for period up to 1861.

and Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway following amalgamation in 1885.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 H.M. Government “Statute Law Repeals: Nineteenth Report : Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill; April 2012"; pages 134-135, paragraphs 3.78-3.83 Retrieved on 2 January 2016
  2. ↑ "Money Market and City Intelligence", "The Times", Wednesday, 15 June 1859, #23333, 7a.
  3. ↑ Grace’s Guide “Scinde Railway” Retrieved on 2 January 2016
  4. ↑ “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 8 Apr 2016
  5. ↑ Google Books "The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads" by Stephen Hughes, page 126; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016
  6. ↑ Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 22, January 1863, pages 451-"Description of the line and works of the Scinde Railway" by John Brunton; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016

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