Bhavnagar State Railway

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Bhavnagar State Railway
[[Image:|150px| ]]
System timeline
1880 Bhavnagar State Railway system formed
Constituent companies / lines
1911 Bhavnagar State Railway
1911 Dhrangadra Railway
Key locations
Headquarters Bhavnagar
Workshops
Major Stations Bhavnagar, Dhola, Wadhwan
Successor system / organisation
1948 Saurashtra Railway
System mileage
Metre gauge 206 miles (1921)
307 miles (1944)
Associated auxiliary force
n/a
How to interpret this infobox
Bhavnagar State Railway
[[Image:|150px| ]]
Line of route
Dhola to Wadhwan
Bhavnagar to Mahuva
Gauge / mileage
Metre gauge 307 miles (1944)
Timeline
1880 First section opened to traffic
Key locations
Presidency Bombay
Stations Bhavnagar, Dhandhuka, Dhola, Jasdan, Kundla, Limbdi, Mahuva, Palitana, Wadhwan
System agency
1880 Bhavnagar-Gondal-Junagad-Porbandar Railway
1911 Own agency
How to interpret this infobox

Bhavnagar State Railway (BSR) was a Metre Gauge(MG) railway line formed and built by the Princely Bhavnagar State in Bhavnagar State in the Kathiawar Peninsula .

Soon after the formation of BSR in 1880 the company absorbed the Princely Kathiawar State Railway

Initially worked by an administrative coalition as the ‘Bhavnagar-Gondal-Junagad-Porbandar Railway’, the BSR operated as an independent system from 1911 under the administration of the Bhavnager Durbar. [1]

For some years after 1911, the BSR also worked the ‘Dhrangadra Railway’.

In 1948 the BSR was merged to form the ‘Saurashtra Railway’.

Bhavnagar State Railway
Bhavnagar State Railway

History

This Bhavnagar-Gondal-Junagad-Porbandar Railway(BGJPR) coalition was also described in some records as the ‘Kathiawar Railway’, the ‘Kathiawar Union Railway’ and the ‘Kathiawar State Railway’.

  • 1910 November: The ‘Palitina Branch’ Line, 17 miles(27km) opened from Sihor to Palitina [6].
    • Line ‘C’ on map
  • 1911: The BGJPR administrative coalition was dissolved in 1911 with the constituents going their independent ways.

The Bhavnagar State Railway (BSR) was formed under the administration of the Bhavnager Durbar. [6].

Bhavnagar State Railway

With the dissolving of the BGJPR the ‘Bhavagar State Railway’(BSR) continued to develop :-

  • 1911-12: The ‘ Kundla Extension’, 36 miles(58km) from the mainline at Dhasa to Kundla (Savar Kundla) [6].
    • Line ‘D’ on map
  • 1913: The ‘Jasdan Branch’, 33 miles(54km) from the mainline at Botard to Jasdan, this was partly funded by the Jasdan Darbar [6].
    • Line ‘E’ on map
  • 1921-22: The ‘Mahuva Extension’, 47½ miles(76km), a further extension from Kundla via Rajula Junction to Mahuva. This includes 4½ miles(7km) of ‘Mahuva Dock Estate Railway’which is worked for goods traffic only[10].
    • Line ‘F’ on map
  • 1922: The ‘Dhandhuka Branch’, 30 miles(48km), from the mainline at Botard to Dhandhuka where it connected to the BB&CIR network. Also described as the ’Botard- Dhandhuka Branch’ [10].
    • Line ‘G’ on map
  • 1927: The ‘Rajula Town and Quarry Branch’, 6 miles(10km) from Rajula Junction to Rajula Town and a spur to the nearby quarries at Rajula [10].
    • Line ‘J’ on map
  • 1928: The ‘Port Albert Victor Branch’, 7½ miles(12km), which became an important oil terminal. Also described as the ‘Dungar Victor Extension’ [10].
    • Line ‘H’ on map
  • 1929: The ‘Ningala-Gadhada Branch’ , 9½ miles(15km), from Ningala to Gadhada , opened 1 Jan 1929 [10][11].
    • Line ‘K’ on map - this line does not appear on the 1931 Map
  • 1948: The BSR was merged to form the ‘Saurashtra Railway’’ - see separate page

The ‘Statistics of Working’, 1937 show the year-by-year financial results from 1913-14 through to 1936-37 and the BSR System rising from 200 miles(322km) reaching 307 miles (494km) from 1928-29 onwards[10]

The 1937 record also shows the Bhavnagar Talaja Tramway included in the returns of the BSR from 1926 onwards ‘- see separate page for details

Classification

Indian Railway Classification of 1926 - Class II railway system.

Lines Worked by BSR

Personnel Records

No Staff Lists have been found.

The Records show the following deployed to the 'Kathiawar State Railway' ,which became ‘Bhanagar State Railway’.

  • Trevredyn Rashleigh Wynne deployed from the Railway Branch of the Public Works Department, 1879-83, to the Kathiawar State Railway as Assistant Engineer, later promoted to Executive Engineer.
  • John Edwin Dallas, Assistant Engineer, also from the Railway Branch was P.A. to the Engineer-in-Chief Kathiawar State Railway, from 1881.
  • Ernest Ifill Shadbolt, also from the Railway Branch was Executive Engineer, Kathiawar State Railway, 1887-91.

The following are recorded as 'on loan' to Bhanagar and Gondal Railway from the Public Works Department(PWD)

Further Information

See Bhavnagar-Gondal-Junagad-Porbandar Railway for period to 1911

and Kathiawar Peninsula Railway and Tramway Systems gives a map, timeline and relates this railway to others in the Kathiawar Peninsula.

References

  1. " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 169; Retrieved 30 Jan 2016
  2. ‘Bhavanagar.com’ “History of Bhavanagar” by ’ Manoj Pande; Retrieved 19 Jun 2019
  3. “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 22 (pdf31) ; Retrieved 10 May 2020
  4. Wikipedia ‘Bhavangar State Railway’; Retrieved 19 Jun 2019
  5. British Library IOR/V/1384 ‘India States Administration Reports – Kathiawar 1865-1875 No 50A of 1867, para 2
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 169(pdf177); Retrieved 19 Jun 2019
  7. ‘1884 Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency, Volume 8 Kathiawar -Railways pages 221-222(pdf249-250); Retrieved 10 May 2020
  8. “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 181 (pdf189); Retrieved 10 May 2020
  9. .‘1884 Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency’, Volume 8 Kathiawar -Railways pages 221-222(pdf249-250); Retrieved 18 Jun 2019
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 US Archive .org pdf download of ‘History Of Indian Railways, constructed and in progress’, 31 March 1937 by ‘The Government of India - Railway Department’ page 221, pdf 264 ; Retrieved 19 Aug 2020
  11. Kathiawar Economics’,1943, by A B Trivedi, 1943 Digital Library of India Archive.org Page 192); Retrieved 18 Jun 2019
  12. “Indian Biographical Dictionary” 1915 page 390; Retrieved on 30 May 2016
  13. Wikipedia "Bhavnagar State Railway"; Retrieved on 7 Jul 2016
  14. Google Books " India List and India Office List, 1905" page 499 (pdf page 462) Retrieved on 30 May 2016
  15. Google Books " India List and India Office List, 1905" page 466 (pdf page 429) Retrieved on 17 May 2016
  16. India Civil List 1890, page 41