Gomti River Tramway

The Gomti River Tramway, 1857, is mentioned in the India Office Records (IOR) stated below. It was a temporary wooden tramway being laid on a portion of the Ghazipur Road to cross the dry sandy bottom of the River Gomti during the dry season, where no bridge existed.

Authorisation was given by the Indian Goverment in 1857 ‘to lay down a wooden tramway on the portion of the Ghazeepore Road which lies in the bed of the River Grountee’ (see Spelling Note). This refers to the road between Benares (now called Varanashi) and Ghazipur( Ghazeepore) ,this road required the crossing of the River Gomti River at Rajwari near the confluence with the River Ganges . This would be a temporary wooden track used in the dry season. . No further information has been found.

Note:-

• Different spellings of ‘Ghazeepore Road’ and ‘Ghazipur road’ . These must refer to the road to Ghazipur which is 40 km north-west of Benares (modern name Varanashi).
• The ‘River Grountee’ refers to the River Gomti

Further Information

See page Tramroads, Riverbed Crossings