Narrow gauge railways in India

India has a small network of narrow gauge railways that are narrower than the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge. The majority of these are 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge, approximately 5,000 km of track and 4,100 km of route in 2015, about 4% of the total Indian rail network. The rest are 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railways and 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railways that are known as narrow gauge in India (as opposed to metre gauge) lines and were 1,500 km of route in 2015, about 2% of the total Indian rail network.[1]

Project Unigauge was started in 1991 that seeks to standardise the rail gauges in India by converting almost all of the metre gauge and narrow gauge tracks to broad gauge track. The metre gauge and narrow gauge tracks on which heritage trains run in hilly regions like Shimla, Darjeeling, Ooty and Matheran will not be converted.[2]

Existing Lines

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 kilometres (48 mi) long. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong.In 1999, the 2 ft (610 mm) Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built in 1908. It runs between Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam. Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the line uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient.In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the site then became known as Mountain Railways of India.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway is a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway in North-West India travelling along a mostly mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla. In 2008, the Kalka–Shimla Railway became part of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India.

Matheran Hill Railway is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, India. The railway covers a distance of 21 km (13.05 mi), over large swathes of forest territory connecting Neral to Matheran. It is in tentative list of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India.

History

The first narrow gauge railway in India was constructed in 1863, the Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway. It was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) railway. It consisted of Dabhoi to Miyagam built in 1863, Dabhoi - Jambusar, Dabhoi Jn - Chandod, Dabhoi Jn - Bodeli and Dabhoi Jn - Tankhala built in subsequent years.

The Cherra Companyganj State Railways was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge[3] tramway and the railway operated between Tharia, a mining town in Meghalaya and Companyganj, now in Sylhet District of Bangladesh, for a distance of 7.5 miles (12.1 km). After the Assam earthquake of 1897, in which tracks were destroyed, the line was closed in 1900.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 kilometres (48 mi) long. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong.In 1999, the 2 ft (610 mm) Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Parlakimidi Light Railway, the Naupada-Gunupur railway line in India is laid between the east coast and Eastern Ghats in North Eastern Andhra Pradesh and Southern Orissa. It was built in 1889.

The Morvi Railway was built in 1890 between Wadhwan and Wankaner as a 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge roadside tramway. It was extended upto 132 miles in 1942.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway is a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway in North-West India travelling along a mostly mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla. In 2008, the Kalka–Shimla Railway became part of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India.

Cooch Behar State Railway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway opened in 1894 in Cooch Behar district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It ran from Cooch Behar to Jainti in West Bengal.

Bengal Provincial Railway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway opened in 1895 from Tarakeswar on the East Indian Railway to Magra, also on the East Indian Railway broad gauge. The line was 32 miles (51 km) long, later extended a further 2 miles (3.2 km) to Tribeni in 1904. Increasing losses post World War 2 led to its closure in 1956.[4] There is a branch line from Dashghora to Jamalpur.

The Barsi Light Railway opened in 1897, and was extended on a number of occasions until it reached a total length of 202 mi (325 km) in 1927.[4]

Kundala Valley Railway was built in 1902 and operated between Munnar and Top Station in the Kannan Devan Hills of Kerala.Initially a cart road was cut in 1902,[5] then later replaced by a monorail goods carriage system along the road. In 1908, the monorail was replaced by a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge light railway.[5] Light steam locomotives were used to pull trains to stations at Madupatty and Palaar.Great flood of 99 completely destroyed the Kundala Valley Railway in 1924, and the line was never rebuilt.

The Satpura narrow gauge lines consist of just over 1,000 km of a network of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge lines in central India. The first portion of the Gondia-Nainpur line was opened on 13 April 1903, Nainpur and Chhindwara were connected in 1904 and Jabalpur in 1905. The Chhindwara-Pench Coalfield line came up in 1906-07 and the Nainpur-Mandla Fort link in 1909.[6][7]

The Shakuntala Railway is a 189 km (117 mi) long, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge Achalpur-Murtazapur-Yavatmal line, built by a British firm, Killik Nixon & Company, in 1903, from interior of Vidarbha to the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line at Murtajapur.[8][9]

Cutch State Railway was an isolated Indian, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway in Princely State of Cutch. The laying of first rails started in 1900-01, from Tuna to Anjar, which became operational in 1905. The works for lines from Anjar to Bhuj started in 1901-02 and completed in 1908. Further addition of 32 miles were done in 1912 from Varsamedi ( near Anjar ) to Bhachau and further extension of 15 miles up to Kandla was started in end of 1930 and completed in 1932.[10][11][12][4] The railway was merged into the Western Railway on 5 November 1951, at which time the total length was 72 miles, and was subsequently closed down.[13][14]

Mayurbhanj State Railway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway originally owned by Mayurbhanj State. The first section of 52 km from Rupsa to Baripada was opened for traffic on January 20, 1905. Later the line was extended to Talband, 61.5 km away. This section was opened on July 15, 1920.

Matheran Hill Railway is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge heritage railway in Maharashtra, India. The railway covers a distance of 21 km (13.05 mi), over large swathes of forest territory connecting Neral to Matheran. It is in tentative list of the World Heritage Site Mountain Railways of India.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built in 1908. It runs between Mettupalayam and Udagamandalam. Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, the line uses the Abt rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient.In July 2005, UNESCO added the Nilgiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the World Heritage Site of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the site then became known as Mountain Railways of India.

The Gwalior Light Railway was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge, 199.8 kilometres (124.1 mi) long and ran from Gwalior to Sheopur Kalan in Madhya Pradesh state. This line was completed in 1909.

Dehri Rohtas Light Railway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway line opened in 1911, between Dehri-On-Sone and Tiura Pipara Dih in the state of Bihar , India.[15][16] It was closed in 1984.[17] A new broad gauge line is being built in its place.[18]

McLeod's Light Railways comprises the below lines. Ahmedpur Katwa Railway; 105 km (converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)) (operating), Bankura Damodar Railway converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (operating), Burdwan Katwa Railway (converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in), Kalighat Falta Railway which has been closed.

Martin's Light Railways was a private company operating railways in India. The routes on which trains were run by Martin's Light Railways (or by Martin & Co.) are[19] Howrah Maidan-Amta and Sehakhala line, 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge, was replaced by 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) in 1962, Bukhtiarpur Bihar Light Railway 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge replaced by 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) in 1962, Barasat Basirhat Railway, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, closed 1955, replaced by 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) in 1962 , Fulwah-Islampur Light Railway in Bihar, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, closed 1987, replaced by 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in), Arrah-Sasaram Light Railway in Bihar, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge, closed 1978, replaced by 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in), Delhi Shahdra to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, replaced by 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in).

The Kangra Valley Railway was commissioned in 1929. It covered a distance of 164 km (101.9 mi) from Pathankot, Punjab to Jogindernagar in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is under conversion to broad gauge.

Bhavnagar Tramway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway built by the Bhavnagar State, India in 1938. It connected Bhavnagar to Mahuva. The total length of the tramway was 108 km. In 1947 the tramway was taken over by the Saurashtra Railway, and later by the Western Railway and was closed down.[4]

In 1991, Indian Railways concluded that metre and narrow gauge network had poor profitability compared to broad gauge network. Also the advantages of uniformity and interoperability were judged to outweigh any other possible benefits arising from the use of diverse gauges. Hence it was decided to convert almost all of the metre gauge and narrow gauge network to broad gauge as Project Unigauge. The lengths of metre gauge and narrow gauge tracks have progressive reduced from approx. 30,000 route kilometre at the start of Project Unigauge in 1991 to approx. 7,000 route kilometre in 2015.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ compiled and edited by Research, Reference and Training Division. (2011). India Yearbook 2011. Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India. Table 19.1. ISBN 978-81-230-1674-0.
  2. ↑ Project Unigauge
  3. ↑ "Railways to make fresh entry into Meghalaya". The Assam Tribune. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hughes, Hugh 1994 Indian Locomotives Pt. 3, Narrow Gauge 1863-1940. Continental Railway Circle.
  5. 1 2 "Sands of Time" (PDF). Newsletter of Tata Central Archives. Tata. V (1): 5–6. January 2006.
  6. ↑ "Nagpur Division" (PDF). South East Central Railway. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  7. ↑ "Major Events in the Formation of S.E. Railway". South Eastern Railway. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
  8. ↑ "Howrah District (1909)". IRFCA. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  9. ↑ More, Vaidehi. "A historic train faces an uncertain future". The Times of India, Nagpur, 2 February 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Shree Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya Samaj: A brief History and Glory of our fore-fathers: by Raja Pawan Jethwa. (2007). Published from Calcutta. Section II: Mileage wise available Details of Railway lines laid. Pages:54-60
  12. ↑ Transportaion History of Kutch. Want to know more about it, http://bhujbolechhe.org/en/blog/tarunkant-chhaya/kcchnaa-vaahn-vyavhaarno-itihaas
  13. ↑ http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/FinanceCode/ADMIN_FINANCE/AdminFinanceCh1_Data.htm
  14. ↑ With effect from 5 November 1951, ...and Kutch State Railways to form Western Railway Statistical abstract, India, Issue 11 published by India. Office of the Economic Adviser, India. Central Statistical, Organisation, 1962. Page No. 316.
  15. ↑ "IR History: Part III (1900-1947)". IRFCA. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "M/s Dehri Rohtas Light Railway Company vs District Board Bhojpur & others and District Board Shahabad & others". Manupatra. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  17. ↑ "IR History: Part V (1970-1995)". IRFCA. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Non-IR Railways". IRFCA. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  20. ↑ Project Unigauge
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