Great Indian Peninsular Railway

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Extent of Great Indian Peninsula Railway network in 1870

The Great Indian Peninsular Railway was a predecessor of the Indian Central Railway, whose headquarters was at the Bori Bunder in Bombay (later, the Victoria Terminus and presently the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus). The Great Indian Peninsular Railway was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an act of the British Parliament. It had a share capital of 50,000 pounds. On August 17, 1849 it enetered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of an experimental line, 56 km long, to form part of a trunk line connecting Bombay with Khandesh and Berar and genrally with the other presidencies of India.[1] The Court of Directors of the East India Company appointed James J. Berkely as Chief Resident Engineer and C.B. Kar and R.W. Graham as his assistants.[2] On July 1, 1925 its management was taken over by the Government.[3] On November 5, 1951 it was incorporated into the Central Railway.

Contents

[edit] Bombay to Thana

A passenger train travelling from Bombay to Thana, 1855

On April 16, 1853 at 3:35 pm, the first passenger train of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway left Bori Bunder station in Bombay for Thana. The train took fifty-seven minutes to reach Thana.[4] It covered a distance of a distance of 21 miles (33.8 km). Three locomotives named Sultan, Sindh and Sahib pulled the 14 carriages carrying 400 passengers on board.[2] The railway bridge over Thane creek, first in India, was completed in 1854.

[edit] The Sahyadri crossed

The portion of the line from Thana to Kalyan was opened on May 1, 1854. the construction of this portion was difficult as it involved a two-line viaduct over the estuary and two tunnels. On May 12, 1856 the line was extended to Khopoli via Palasdhari and on June 14, 1858 Khandala-Poona section was opened to traffic. The Palasdhari-Khandala section involved the difficult crossing of the Bhor Ghat and it took another five years for completion. During this period, the 21 km gap was covered by palaquin, pony or cart. The Kasara line was opened on January 1, 1861 and the steep Thal Ghat section up to Igatpuri was opened on January 1, 1865 and thus completed the crossing of the Sahyadri.[4]

[edit] Further extensions

Beyond Kalyan, the north-east main line proceeded over the Thal Ghat to Bhusawal. From Bhusawal, there was a bifurcation, one was extended up to Jabalpur to connect with the Allahabad-Jabalpur section of the East Indian Railway and the other was extended up to Nagpur. The south-east main line proceeded over Bhor Ghat to Poona, Sholapur and Raichur, where it joined the Madras Railway. By 1868, route kiometerage was 888 km and by 1870, route kilometerage was 2,388.[5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, p.15
  2. ^ a b Khan, Shaheed (April 18, 2002). "The great Indian Railway bazaar". The Hindu. http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/04/18/stories/2002041800430100.htm. 
  3. ^ "Chapter 1 - Evolution of Indian Railways-Historical Background". Ministry of Railways website. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/financecode/ADMIN_FINANCE/AdminFinanceCh1_Data.htm. 
  4. ^ a b Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, p.17
  5. ^ Rao, M.A. (1988). Indian Railways, New Delhi: National Book Trust, pp.17-8
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