CHAPTER – III INDIAN RAILWAYS: an OVERVIEW 3.1 Beginning Of
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CHAPTER – III INDIAN RAILWAYS: AN OVERVIEW 3.1 Beginning of Railways 3.2 Development at national level 3.3 Organization Structure 3.4 Economic development during the last five years 3.5 Role of Indian Railways in Transport, Storage and Communication 3.6 Pune Division of Indian Railways 3.7 Highlights of the Indian Railways’ Budget 2016-17 61 3.1 Beginning of Railways Possibly in 1830, originating in ancient Greece a small wooden mine trolley ran in recessed stone guides, is the earliest recorded illustration of a railway. In 1604, the first wooden tracks were laid for running the horse-drawn carriages at Wallaton, England. Two centuries later in February, 1804, the world’s first steam engine ran successfully on rails which was built by Richard Trevithick who was an engineer. Although this train carried iron and passengers, it was not recognized as the first railway passenger service train because it was a trial run.(www.irfca.org)94 The first ever passenger train was started in England in 1835. This train facilitated the trading of wool. The train was started to cover the distance from Stockton to Darlington. Steam locomotive and iron rails were used to pull a load. This train started its first journey on 27th September, 1825. The engine of the train was developed by George Stephenson. The train carried passengers and goods in 38 wagons. The construction of this railway line began in 1821 which required 4 years to complete the work. This train is considered as the first passenger train in the universe. However, some claim that the first passenger railway ran in 1830 between Liverpool and Manchester.(www.dnaindia.com)95 3.2 Development at national level The beginning of train services in India Traders in the United Kingdom decided to purchase the cotton crop from India because of a major crop failure in America in 1846. The cotton was purchased in the various parts of the Indian sub-continent. Lot of time was required for transporting cotton from sub- continent to the nearest port to transport it to the United Kingdom. Therefore, the British decided to start a railway in India on an urgent basis. At the same time the British decided to use the railway network for faster deployment of troops. 62 In 1849, Lord Dalhousie became the Governor General of India. He was having the experience in the matters related to railway in England. On August 1, 1849, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway was formed. The GIP Company was established on August 17, 1849 by the East India Company and the Great Indian Peninsula Railway with the capital of 5 lakh pounds. There was also a provision in an agreement to increase this capital to 1 million pounds to expand the railway line beyond Callian (Kalyan) and across the Thull and Bhor Ghats. The GIP Company did a trial run of railway on November 18, 1852 between Bombay and Thane. However, the first official train in India (and in Asia) ran on April 16, 1853 between Boree Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane at 3.35 p.m. It was a 34 kms journey. This day was declared as a public holiday by the Bombay Government. The train was drag by three engines – Sindh, Sahib and Sultan. It was having 14 coaches and 400 passengers. The first locomotive (steam engine), Thomason, drag some wagons which contained earth and mud in Roorkee. Lord Falkland, the second engine (named after a Bombay governor) was introduced in operation after one year near Byculla, Bombay which was used for doing shunting duties. The third engine was used in November 1852 for the trial run of the passenger train. And after all these activities, the first “official” passenger train was introduced on April 16, 1853. It was a long journey before the first “official” train started its journey. The second passenger train was introduced on August 15, 1854 from Howrah (Caluctta) to Hooghly. The first railway workshop was opened by Great Indian Peninsula Railway in 1854 at Byculla, Bombay. The development of railway network in the north, south and the east Agreements were signed to construct railway lines to run inland in Bombay (The Great Indian Peninsula Railway), Calcutta (East Indian Railway), and Madras (Madras Railway). 63 For developing the network of railways in the south, the Madras Railway Company was formed in London on July 8, 1845. A general body meeting of the shareholders was held in February 1846 to construct a railway line from Madras to Arcot, known as Wallajah Nagar. But the matters were delayed and the actual construction begun on June 9, 1853. The first train between Royapuram and Wallajah Nagar ran on June 26, 1856. The train services in Bangalore were started from August 1, 1864. On March 3, 1859, the first train ran in the north between Allahabad and Kanpur. The railways then were built on a Guarantee System i.e. the railway companies were guaranteed a certain rate of interest on its capital investment. The guarantee was to be honoured by the East India Company. The Gaikwad Baroda State Railway The Gaikwad of Baroda state built a railway, which was of just two and a half feet gauge in 1863, just ten years after the first train ran in India. The maiden line of the Gaikwad Baroda State Railway was constructed quickly between Dhaboi and Miyagam. The Durbar of Baroda had financed the project. The Gaikwad was in such a hurry to commence the project to export cotton that he used bullocks – bullmotives – as engines to run trains instead of waiting for the actual steam locomotives to arrive from England. The steam locomotives of Gaikwad Baroda State Railway arrived in India only in 1873. This was the first narrow gauge railway in India. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Work on building the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway line began in May 1879 and in March, 1880. In August 1880, the line was opened for passenger and goods traffic as far as Kurseong, 4864 ft. above the sea and thirty-two miles from Siliguri. In July 1881, the line was opened throughout to Darjeeling station. 64 On December 2, 1999, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway became the second railway site in the world to be designated a World Heritage site. The railway has been added as a world heritage site with “outstanding universal value” by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. The Railway raj Between 1854 and 1860, India had eight railway companies – Eastern India Railway, Great India Peninsula Company, Madras Railway, Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway, Scindia Railway, Eastern Bengal Eastern Railway, Calcutta Railway Company and South Railway Company. In the years between 1869 and 1881, the British government took up the responsibility of laying railway lines in India from the East India Company. And thereafter, things began to move rapidly. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station which is the administrative headquarters of Central Railway was then known as GIP Railway. The construction work of the administrative building commenced in 1878 under the guidance of noted architect Fredirck William Stevens. This building is now declared as a Grade-1 heritage. The building has been considered as one of the finest station buildings in the world and architecturally one of the most splendid and magnificent Italian Gothic edifices existing. Work on the building began in May 1878. The construction cost of the terminus was Rs. 16,l5,562. The construction work took 10 years for completion and was officially renamed as Victoria Terminus after Queen Victoria on Queen’s Golden Jubilee Day on June 20, 1887. An all-Indian locomotive The first locomotive was manufactured in Indian in 1895 which was built at Ajmer for the Rajputana Malwa Railway. The cost of manufacturing this locomotive was Rs. 15,869 to be used for hauling mixed trains. It was also used on the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (BB&CI) network. Now this locomotive has been stored as one of the outdoor exhibits at the National Railway Museum, New Delhi. In 1904, Mr. W.H. White, chief engineer of the then Bombay Presidency government had proposed the idea to electrify the railway network. He proposed the electrification of the 65 two Bombay-based companies, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway (now known as CR and WR respectively). Both the companies were in favour of the proposal. However, it took another year to obtain necessary permissions from the British government and to upgrade the railway infrastructure in Bombay city. Mr. Merz was appointed as a consultant by the government of India to give an opinion on the electrification of railways. But, Mr. Merz resigned before making any concrete suggestions. Moreover, as the project was in the process of being executed, the First World War broke out which put the brakes on the project. By 1920, Mr. Merz formed a consultancy firm of his own with a partner, Mr. Maclellan. The government retained his firm for the railway electrification project. Plans were drawn up for rolling stock and electric infrastructure for Bombay-Poona/Igatpuri/Vasai and Madras Tambaram routes. All the inputs for the electrification, except power supply, were imported from various companies in England. The first-ever electric train in India ran from Bombay, similar to the running of the first ever railway train from Bombay to Thane on April 16, 1853. On February 3, 1925, the first electric train ran between Bombay (Victoria Terminus) and Kurla, a distance of 16 kms. However, India’s first electric locos (two of them), had already made their appearance on the soil of India much earlier.