Indian Railway History

The following are articles, original material, and extracts of historical interest, contributed by IRFCA members, or collected from various archives of historical material relating to railways in India.

For a chronological account of the development of railways in India, see the IR history FAQ.

Articles on Railway History

The First Railways in India by Simon Darvill, 2011
Chronology of Electrification, from CORE, 2004.
Eminent Railwaymen of Yesteryears by R R Bhandari, 2008
Historical Train Times by John Lacey and others
Railway Network Sizes From The 19^th Century
Closed Marshalling Yards by Alok Patel, 2004.
Rules for Railway Projects, 1893 by Julian Rainbow, 1995
India: The Complex History of the Junctions at Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri by Alastair Boobyer (from Rinbad)
Railways as Agents of Change in 19th Century Banaras Region from Culture and Power in Banaras, ed. Sandria B. Freitag (1989) Extract selected by R Sivaramakrishnan
How soon is soon? On the England-India railway link proposed in 1871, by R Sivaramakrishnan, 2009.
The Indian Steam Pages
Chronological History of Railways in India

The following texts are from the UK Law Commission's publication on statute law revision to repeal British laws related to railways in India. They contain much information on the legal frameworks for the early railways operating in India.

Historical Archives - Extracts (Chronological)

Unless otherwise noted these extracts have been selected and edited by Prof. R Sivaramakrishnan.

1853-1900

Opening of the Madras Railway and Other News, 1856: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
Railway Operations in India, 1855-1856: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
Railways in Western India, 1856: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
Proposal for Bombay-Surat-Baroda-Ahmedabad Line, etc., 1855: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
Opening of the East Indian Railway (1), 1855: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
Opening of the East Indian Railway (2), 1855: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
The First Train in India (GIPR), 1853: Extracts from Australian Newspapers
Official Resistance to Railways in India, 1853: Extract from Charles Dickens' Household Words
Various Extracts: Bombay-Thana opening, report on the GIPR, the Sepoy Mutiny, and railway accidents, from the Railway Times (1853-1887)
Travels of the Prince of Wales in India, 1875-1876, by William Howard Russell (1877) Selected and edited by B M S Bisht
Notes of an Indian Journey, by M. E. Grant Duff (1876)
Extracts from Murray's Handbook of the Madras Presidency, by E. B. Eastwick (1879)
Travels in Central India, Bombay, and Bengal, by L. Rousselet (1882)
A Winter in India, by W. E. Baxter, M.P. (1882)
Indian Railways: Impediments to Progress, from the Railway Engineer (1884)
Geography of Assam (1896)
Our Life and Travels in India by W. Wakefield (1898)

1900-1910

Impressions of Indian Travel, by Oscar Browning (1903)
Cooch Behar State Railways, by H. N. Chaudhuri (1903)
Madura, by W. Francis, District Gazetteers Series (1905)
The Romantic East: Burma, Assam, Kashmir, by Walter Del Mar (1906)
Thacker's Guide to Calcutta, by Rev. W. K. Firminger (1906)
Chhattisgarh, by E. A. de Brett, I.C.S., Central Provinces District Gazetteer (1906)
Shahabad, by L. S. S. O'Malley, I.C.S., Bengal District Gazetteers Series (1906)
Vizagapatnam, by W. Francis, District Gazetteers Series (1907)
The South Indian Railway in Trichinopoly District, District Gazetteers Series (1907)
India Impressions, by W. Crane (1907)
Personnel, from the Indian Railway Gazette (1908)
The Book of Ceylon, by Henry W. Cave (1908)
North-west Frontier Province, by H. A. Rose, I. C. S., in the Imperial Gazetteer of India Provincial Series (1908)
Impressions of India, by Sir H. Craik (1908)
The Nilgiri Railway, by B. S. Baliga, in the Madras District Gazetteers: The Nilgiris (1908)
Hyderabad, by Mirza Mehdy Khan, in the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1909)
Howrah, by L. S. S. O'Malley and M. Chakravarti, in the Bengal District Gazetteer (1909)
Raipur, by A. E. Nelson, I.C.S., Central Provinces District Gazetteer (1909)
Nadia, by J. H. E. Garrett, I.C.S., in the Bengal District Gazetteer (1910)
Bilaspur, ed. A. E. Nelson, Central Provinces District Gazetteer (1910)

1911-1920

Railways in India, from the Railway Gazette (1911)
Manbhum, by H Coupland, I.C.S., in the Bengal District Gazetteer (1911)
Noakhali, by J. E. Webster, I.C.S., in the Eastern Bengal District Gazetteer (1911)
Dacca, by B. C. Allen, I.C.S., in the Eastern Bengal District Gazetteer (1912)
On the opening of the Bhopal State Railway, by Sultan Jahan Begum, Nawab of Bengal (1912)
India, Burma, Ceylon - Information for Travellers and Residents, Thomas Cook and Son. (1912)
Goalundo Ghat - From the Hooghly to the Himalayas, by The Times Press (1913)
The Sara [Hardinge] Bridge - From the Hooghly to the Himalayas , by The Times Press (1913)
Murshidabad, by L. S. S. O'Malley, in the Bengal District Gazeetteer (1914)
Modern Hyderabad, by J. Law (1914)
Godavary District, by F. T. Hemingway, District Gazetteers Series (1915)
Cuddapah District, by C. F. Brackenbury, I.C.S., Madras District Gazetteers Series (1915)
Salem District Gazetteer by F. J. Richards (1916)
Mymensingh District Gazetteer by Sir F. A. Sachse (1917)
Hazaribagh District Gazetteer by E. Lister (1918)
Report of the Baroda Economic Development Committee (1918-1919)
India's Demand for Transportation, by W E Weld (1920)

1921-1953

Opening of the Khyber Railway, from the Railway Gazette (1925)
Visit to the Swindon Works by King Amanullah of Afghanistan, from the Railway Gazette (1928)
Travels in Southern and Western India by T.H. Croxall (1932)
The Hukong Valley Route for an Indo-Burma Railway, Sadiya Frontier Tract, by Sir Robert Reid (1942)
Indian Railways and the Punjab disturbances, a report on the Partition of British India, from the Railway Gazette (1947)
Mahatma Gandhi's Cremation Special, from the Railway Gazette (1948)
Indian Railways Centenary Celebrations, from the Railway Gazette (1953)