HISTORY OF THE RAILWAYS IN COOCH BEHAR & DOORS AREA

HISTORY OF THE RAILWAYS IN COOCH BEHAR & DOORS AREA

 

A.      History of the Pre-Independence period

 Initially there were two Railways viz. The Bengal Dooars Railway Company (BDR) and Cooch Behar State Railway (CBSR), to serve the entire area of Jalpaiguri District and Cooch Behar District at the foot of the Himalayas near the border with Bhutan

The Bengal Dooars Railway (BDR)

The Bengal Dooars Railway Company was one of the pioneering railway companies formed in UK in 1891 towards the construction and operation of metre gauge (MG) lines at Dooars with its Headquarters at Domohani in the Jalpaiguri District. They constructed meter gauge railway lines for opening out the western Dooars and for development of the tea industry. The first line was opened on 11 June 1893 from Barnes Ghat to Dam Din via Domohani with a branch from Lataguri Junction to Ramshai to serve  a remote tea garden at Ramsai, followed by opening of the link to Lalmanirhat ( in Rangpur District ) via Domohani and Mal Jn from Chalsa ( in Jalpaiguri District ) on 01 April, 1901. Lalmanirhat being on the Main Assam Route of Parbatipur – Kaunia – Amingaon under Eastern Bengal railway (EBR), it was only at this point, where a connection was made by BDR with another railway. By 1903, Mal got connected to Sevoke on the western Doors and Chalsa was connected to Madarihat in Cooch Behar District as follows:

Western Extension :

Mal Jn  – Dandim  – Odlabari                                         :  Opened on 01 May 1901

Odlabari – Bagrakote                                                     :  Opened on 01 January 1902

Bagrakote – Sevoke                                                       :  Opened on 14 June 1903

Eastern Extension :

Chalsa – Chapramari – Nagrakata – Chengmari  :  Opened on 01 January 1903

Chengmari – Banarhat – Binnaguri – Dalgaon                :  Opened on 23 March 1903

Dalgaon – Mujnai – Madarihat                                        :  Opened on 14 June 1903

Southern Extension :

Chalsa Junction to Metelli (MG)                         :  opened on 10 June 1918.

BDR, along with its extensions, eventually was of 257 Km (160.66 miles) length. The line was purchased by the Government of India from January 1941 and amalgamated with the Eastern Bengal Railway and thence to the Bengal Assam Railway in 1942.

Cooch Behar State Railway (CBSR)

It was established in 1893 by His Highness Nripendra Narayan Bhoop Bahadur, the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, to build a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm)-wide narrow gauge railway track from the southern bank of the Torsa opposite Cooch Behar town to Gitaldaha - a station on the tracks of Eastern Bengal Railway connecting Dhubri with Lalmanirhat.. The line was constructed with the following stations: Torsa, Dewanhat, Chawrahat, Gitaldaha and Gitaldaha Ghat. It was opened for goods traffic from 15 September 1893 and for passenger traffic from 1 March 1894. By 1901, a bridge was built on the Torsa, whereby  Cooch Behar town got connected to this line, which was extended to Alipurduar, Buxa and Jayanti near the India–Bhutan border, the total length of the complete line measuring at 85.6 Km (53.5 miles). It was converted to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)-wide meter gauge in 1910 and the operation of the Lalmanir Hat- Gitaldaha Railway was passed to the Eastern Bengal Railway (EBR), which they operated as part of their ‘EBR Metre Gauge’ network together with the CBSR following its conversion to MG. Thus the Cooch Behar State Railway was always worked by the Eastern Bengal Railway, with profits shared.

The details of the opening of the sections involved were as follows:

Rajabhatkhawa – Garopara – Kalchini                            :  Opened on  01 April 1912

Kalchini – Hamiltongunj – Hasimara – Dalsingpara        :  Opened on  15 January 1914

Dalsingpara – Madarihat                                                :  Opened on   01 April, 1918

By 1911, Sevoke got connected to Siliguri Jn. Thus, after 1918, the following routes were present in Cooch Behar and Doors area as per the Scanned copies of the concerned pages from the Newman’s Indian Bradshaw of 1934 obtained through IRFCA :

Lalmanirhat Jn. – Bhotemari – Hatibandha – Bhotepatti – Changrabandha – Maynaguri Road  –  Domohani – Lataguri  Jn. – Damdim  – Mal Jn – Chalsa Jn. – Chapramari – Nagrakata – Chengmari – Banarhat – Binnaguri – Dalgaon – Mujnai – Madarihat.  .

Lalmanirhat Jn. – Gitaldaha – Cooch Behar – Alipurduar Jn – Raja Bhatkhowa – Buxa Road – Jainti. 

Raja Bhatkhowa – Garopara – Kalchini – Hamiltongunj – Hasimara – Dalsingpara. 

Chalsa Jn. – Metelli   (e)  Lataguri  Jn. – Ramshai  (f) Domohani – Barnes Ghat.  

Siliguri Jn – Sevoke – Bagrakote – Odlabari – Damdim  – Mal Jn.  

A Ferry service was maintained on the River Teesta from Karla Ghat  - about 2.5 Miles from the Jalpaiguri Station under Eastern Bengal Railway, to Barnes Ghat, which, in turn, was connected to Domohani, thus providing a much shorter route for people from Eastern part of the Jalpaiguri District to reach Jalpaiguri Town – the headquarters of the district. Domohani being connected to Lalmanirhat on the Calcutta (Sealdah) – Parbatipur – Assam Route, both Lalmanirhat and Domohani became very important Railway stations.

It may be seen from the Tables II and III that two lines got bifurcated at Rajabhatkhawa - one to Jainti via Buxa, the other to Dalsingpara via Kalchini/Hasimara.

B.      History of the Post- Independence period

With the partition of India in 1947, the two ends of the Sealdah – Siliguri route lying in India got detached as well as Sealdah – Guahati route got disrupted due to main part of these routes being in East Pakistan (Bangladesh now) and there being no bridge across the Ganges in West Bengal or Bihar.

A generally acceptable route to Siliguri from Sealdah was found via Sahibganj Loop to Sakrigali Ghat (and sometimes Sahibganj Ghat) by Train, crossing the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat, then again by Train on metre gauge track via Katihar and Barsoi to Kishanganj and finally narrow gauge to Sliguri, since the Narrow gauged Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) was originally from Kishanganj to Darjeeling via Siliguri Jn (Refer TABLE – VI).

Assam Rail Link

The two northern districts of West Bengal namely Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri as well as entire Assam area being of strategic importance, the Government of India undertook a Project called “ Assam Rail Link ” on Top Priority, to be completed within two years.  The Track scenario at the subject zone at the time of partition was as follows:

Kisanganj was connected to Katihar via Barsoi through Meter Gauge Track, Katihar being connected, in turn, to Northern India under the Oudh and Tirhut Railways, as well as to Manihari Ghat on the north bank of the Ganges, but the track from Kisanganj to Siliguri was Narrow Gauge (NG) under Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR).

Bagrakot was connected to Alipurduar (not the Alipurduar Jn) via Rajabhatkhawa – Damanpur – Alipurduar Court under Lalmanirhat – Cooch Behar – Jayanti MG Route.

There was a dual-gauge (MG and NG) track from Siliguri to Sevoke in Siliguri – Geillekhola Route under Teesta Valley Railway (Refer Table – V). It may be mentioned here that Sevoke-Geillekhola section of this route had to be abandoned in June 1950, following the disastrous floods of that year.

The Assam Rail Link Project, therefore, envisaged linking of the existing Meter Gauge Track of the Oudh and Tirhut Railways with the isolated part of the Assam Railways from Kishanganj to Fakiragram in the following manner:

Conversion of the existing 105.6 Km (66 miles) of the 2Ft NG line from Kishanganj to Siliguri under Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR) to Metre Gauge line.

Construction of a new Metre Gauge line connecting Sevoke to Bagrakot , inclusive of the construction of a Railway Bridge on the turbulent Tista River, Siliguri – Sevoke MG track being already available.

Construction of a new Metre Gauge line from Alipurduar to Fakiragram, from where the line to Amingaon already existed.

This 227 Km (142 Miles) Rail Link was completed within two years and the line was opened to Goods traffic and to the Passenger Traffic on 09 December, 1949 and 26 January, 1950 – the Republic day repectively. Conversion of the NG line at Kishanganj – Siliguri section to MG got completed by 1949, thus connecting Siliguri with Sealdah again in two lapses like the old Damukdea Ghat – Sara Ghat system, but the time taken now was almost 22 Hours !

This new MG route to Assam from 1950 was as follows:

Katihar Jn – Barsoi Jn – Kishangunge – Aluabari Road – Bagdogra – Matigarai – Siliguri Jn – Gulma – Sivok – Bagrakot – Oodlabari – Damdim – Mal Jn – Chalsa Jn – Chapramari – Nagrakata – Chengmari – Banarhat – Binnaguri – Dalgaon – Mujnai – Madari Hat – Dalsingpara – Hasimara – Hamiltonganj – Kalchini – Garopara – Raja Bhat Khawa – Damanpur – Alipur Duar Jn – Salsala Bari – Samuktala Road Jn  – Fakiragram Jn (Where it meets the old Parbatipur  – Amingaon Route) – Bongaigaon – Sorbhog – Barpeta Road – Rangiya Jn – Amingaon. There were reversals at Siliguri Jn and Mal Jn, that is the trains used to enter and exit through the same end.

This Station Mal Jn ' was renamed as Malbazar subsequently and is no longer in the main Siliguri – Alipurduar Jn MG Route. A new station ‘NEW MAL’ has emerged in its place with no reversal.

In the pre-partition days, the present day Siliguri Town station (SGUT) was serving as the terminating station for BG Darjeeling Mail from Sealdah (via Haldibari) and was named Siliguri. By 1947, the following lines were terminating at this station:

(a)     BG line from Sealdah via Haldibari  - Jalpaiguri    (b)   NG line from Kishanganj     (c)  MG line from Sivok

(d)    NG line from Darjeeling

After the completion of the Assam Rail Link Project in 1950, a new Siliguri Jn station (SGUJ) was created north of the Siliguri Town station, which became the main station in the area, with three metre gauge lines ( South-west to Kishanganj and Barsoi; North-east to Assam via Alipurduar Jn ; south to Siliguri Town and Haldibari) and two narrow gauge lines (north to Darjeeling; south to Siliguri Town). Thus, after the emergence of the Siliguri Jn (SGUJ), the erstwhile Siliguri station was renamed as Siliguri Town.

The narrow-gauge steam shed was moved from Siliguri Town to Siliguri Jn and the narrow-gauge Siliguri Jn - Siliguri Town section became freight-only.

Since entry to Jalpaiguri from Sealdah via Haldibari got cut off due to partition, it was to be entered now from Siliguri Jn. This resulted into the conversion of the Haldibari – Siliguri Jn BG Track to MG.

When the completely new Broad Gauge rail link was created from Calcutta via Farakka in the early 1960s, New Jalpaiguri  - an entirely new through broad-gauge station, was built on the south of the Siliguri Town Station. Consequently, the New Jalpaiguri - Haldibari section had to be converted yet again - from metre gauge to broad gauge.

From about 1964, New Jalpaiguri became the main station in the area, with two broad-gauge lines (west to Calcutta; east towards Assam with branch to Haldibari), a metre-gauge line (north to Siliguri Town and Siliguri Jn, diverging thence south-west to Kishanganj and Barsoi, and north-east to Assam) and a narrow-gauge line (north to Siliguri Town, Siliguri Jn and Darjeeling). The narrow-gauge steam shed was again moved, from Siliguri Jn to New Jalpaiguri. With interchange between main-line and Darjeeling trains at New Jalpaiguri, the narrow-gauge New Jalpaiguri - Siliguri Town - Siliguri Jn section became a passenger line.

However, by now that is the year of 2022, the entire area under the aforesaid review as well as the entire Assam region stands Broad Gauged.

 

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A Concise History of Railway Connectivity from Calcutta to East Bengal, North Bengal, Assam and Tripura in the British India

 

Introduction

Many persons are interested about the history of Indian railways before partition. As regards such history specifically for the connections from Calcutta to East Bengal (of undivided Bengal ), Assam and Tripura, there are articles over the internet and various Threads under the Forum “History and Heritage” of IRFCA with valuable information  therein from the knowledgeable IRFCA members, some of which are listed below:

The Assam Bengal Railway in 1929     

Vignettes of Pre-Independence Indian Railway History I-The E.B.Railway. 

Calcutta-Dibrugarh via Gauhati and Chandpur with reference to 1913 Time Table.   

1929 Route map of Assam Bengal Railway.  

I thought it prudent to present a compilation of these valuable information/data arranging chronologically year wise, with the addition of some related information as I could gather from various articles available over the Internet and otherwise as well as from my father, buttressed by line diagrams and railway timings wherever found necessary based on the Bradshaw of 1929 and 1944 made available in the ibid IRFCA Forum, so that many questions/queries by the Rail fans on various aspects of the subject would automatically get answered, for example : why Goalando was chosen to be the first railway entry point to East Bengal, why and when the route of Surma Mail was changed from Chandpur to Jagannathgunj Ghat and like. To this end, I have created this post for the information of general public who might be interested in the subject.

 

The Geographical , Economical and Historical Background

 

Consequent to the advent of railway connection in India in 1853 from Bombay VT to Thana, activities of establishing rail connection also started in Eastern India. Construction of the railway tracts in British India in those days was entirely the initiative of the private sector railway companies from business point of view, to be operated under specific contracts with the Government towards adequate Government participation in the form of land acquisition and a term of guaranteed profit to the company for capital investment conceived towards business economy. These contracts also had provisions, in turn, for special obligations about conveyance of postal mails, troops, police, government officials, government bullion and coin, government stores and power of the government to determine the contract.

East Indian Railway Company (EIR) was one such private firm formed in 1844 in London by RM Stephenson- a civil engineer, having all its activities in the Western side of the Hooghly River. EIR opened up the first railway track from Howrah to Raniganj in 1854 with the main objective of carrying coal from the Raniganj collieries. Starting from Howrah, the East India Railway soon got terminated in Delhi.

This motivated other business houses also to follow suit. Col JP Kennedy - a civil engineer from the Army, mooted out a proposal in 1852 for the construction of a railway line in the Eastern side of the Hooghly River in the Eastern part of undivided Bengal (that is the territory of today's Bangladesh) from Calcutta across the Sundarbans to the West bank of the river Padma and then to Dhaka with the objective of developing communication system of the eastern region of British India, particularly, Assam and Eastern Bengal. The annexation of Burma to the Indian Empire in 1854 made the idea all the more urgent from the military point of view also. Based on these, Major Aber Crombie and Lt. Gerald Head of the Bengal Engineers undertook a field survey in 1855 and submitted a report along with detail plans and estimates prepared under the supervision of Mr. Purdon - a senior railway engineer, detailing the prospects of a new company proposed to be named as “Eastern Bengal Railway”. Eastern Bengal Railway Company (EBR) thus came up in 1857 with the objective of introduction of railway transport in Eastern Bengal and even to move into Burma, with the Eastern side of the Hooghly River as its operational area, since operations of railway transport on the Western side of the Hooghly River already stood entrusted to EIR, as stated above. EBR was renamed as Eastern Bengal State Railway after being taken over by the Government of British India in July 1884 and amalgamated it with the Northern Bengal State Railway in 1887. However, it was reverted to its old name, Eastern Bengal Railway, in 1915.

By late seventies of the nineteenth century, Indian as well as overseas market had been created for Tea, the principal product of Assam and Eastern Bengal, and Jute, the principal product of the districts of Eastern Bengal, especially Dhaka and Mymensingh. However, Dhaka and other parts of the undivided East Bengal (present day Bangladesh) being covered with the mighty rivers like The Padma, The Jamuna and The Meghna along with their innumerable branches and tributaries, the main mode of transportation in those days was through the Waterways only by steamship connections to the Chittagong port from various inland river ports - like Tea from Assam used to come to the Chittagong port by Steamships through the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in East Bengal) and Jute fro Dhaka and Mymensingh by road. Other than overseas exports from this post, the goods for domestic requirements were also transported to Calcutta from Chittagong port via Bay of Bengal and The Ganges. Narayanganj was one such inland river port, situated on the western bank of the river Meghna, which was the gateway to Dhaka (called Dacca in those days) and down this river towards south was the Chandpur river port as the gateway to Chittagong division, situated at the confluence of The Meghna and The Dakatia. Nearest river port to Chandpur towards the eastern direction was Goalando on the west bank of The Padma - below the confluence of The Padma and The Jamuna. Therefore, when need was felt about connecting Dhaka and Chittagong Sea Port through railway with Calcutta – the commercial, cultural, and educational center of the British India, Goalando was chosen for having railway connection to Calcutta in future.

A line Diagram is presented here showing the Rail connectivity from Calcutta (Sealdah) to East Bengal, North Bengal, Assam and Tripura in British India, which would be helpful for a better understanding of the subject.

The Chronological History

1862

Commissioning of the Calcutta-Ranaghat section of the EBR on 29th September 1862 along with the commissioning  of  Sealdah  Station  in  the  same  year  marked  the  beginning of the history of railway in the the western side of The Padma of the undivided Bengal under British India. Its continuation, the Darshana - Jagati section via Poradaha, a distance of 53.11 km, was opened to traffic on 15th November 1862 as a Broad gauge (1676 mm) line with Kushtia, near the confluence of the river Gorai with the Padma, as the terminal. Thus, the western side of The Padma in East Bengal got Calcutta - Kushtia line (175km - BG) via Poradaha from November 1862 run by EBR as its first Railway connection. However, this Kushtia had to be shifted to Gorai due to breach in the river Padma in 1867, thereby abandoning the original Kushtia station in the following year.

1871– 1890

Due to considerations as described at the biginning, the aforesaid BG Calcutta-Kushtia line was extended 75-km southwards to Goalando by EBR as the first step towards establishing rail connections to East Bengal on the eastern side of The Padma, which was opened on 1st January 1871.

In September 1878, the East Bengal Circle of the-then Postal Communication system of the British Government, having headquarters at Dhaka and delivery offices at Chittagong, Mymensingh, Comilla, and Noakhali, was formed. This led to the introduction of Dacca Mail (BG) in 1879 from Sealdah to Goalando.​ Subsequently Chittagong Express was introduced in this Sealdah – Goalando Route.

Connectivity from Calcutta to East Bengal being thus established with the eastern side of The Padma by 1871, the next goal of the Eastern Bengal Railway was to establish rail connectivity with the western side of The Padma, North Bengal and Assam from Calcutta. To this end, the first action taken was the construction of a BG branch line from Poradaha (in the Sealdah - Goalando BG track) to Damukdia Ghat on the Western bank of The Padma, opposite Sara Ghat on the Eastern bank of it, which was opened in 1874, thereby making a railway link of 185 km journey over Broad Gauge track from Sealdah to Damukdia Ghat, since by the same year that is 1874, Northern Bengal State Railway (NBSR) opened a meter gauge (1000 mm) railway line from Sara Ghat to Santahar. This was extended subsequently from Santahar to Parbatipur via Hili in 1876, thereafter to Jalpaguri in 1878, and finally northwards to Siliguri at the foot of the Himalayas in 1879. The route was Sara Ghat - Ishwardi – Nator – Santahar – Hili - Parabtipur - Sayidpur – Chilahati - Haldibari - Jalpaiguri - Siliguri, covering a distance of 336 km over Meter Gauge track.

Once Parbatipur thus came up as a railway station in 1876 on the Sara Ghat - Siliguri line of 1879, it became a centre of further two major railway developments - one eastward through opening of the Parbatipur- Kaunia MG line by North Bengal State Rly in 1879 via Rangpur, thereby paving the way for future  railway  connectivity  to  Assam  from  Parbatipur (discussed subsequently), and  the  other  westward to Katihar in Bihar by The Assam Behar State Railway (ABSR) via Dinajpur - Biral ( Indo-Bangla Border now) - Radhikapur – Kaliagunj - Raigunj - Barsoi, which started off in 1884 and got completed by 1889.

Rail connectivity from Calcutta to Darjeeling - the closest hill station from Calcutta, the new capital of British India, thus became a reality for the first time by 1879, albeit with the help of a Ferry service in between for crossing of the River Padma between Damukdia Ghat and Sara Ghat. This resulted into the introduction of the legendary Darjeeling Mail in 1879, covering the 185 km journey over Broad Gauge track from Sealdah to Damukdia Ghat and a distance of 336 km over Meter Gauge track through its counterpart MG Darjeeling Mail from Sara Ghat to Siliguri, with the help of a ferry run by the Railways in between Damukdia Ghat and Sara Ghat. The year 1879 thus witnessed the introduction of The Darjeeling mail – one of the most important Trains of EBR.

It would not be out of context at this stage to mention about the various Gauges of the railway tracks prevalent at that time. The British government adopted three types of railway gauges (breadth) as a matter of principle viz. Broad gauge (BG -1767 mm), Meter gauge (MG - 1000 mm) and Narrow gauge (NG - 762 mm), depending upon involvement of capital cost and rate of return. Short distance railway lines were constructed to connect with the nearest river port or to bridge the missing links between main railway routes. Extension of railway lines was done to connect commercially important areas. Where necessary, conversions were carried out to provide compatibility of railway gauges in order to continue a journey without any transshipment. 

A 2ft 6in/762mm NG line was opened in 1882 by Kaunia-Kurigram Railway, running east wards from Kaunia, where it got connected to the NBSR MG line.

Khulna was connected by a BG Track to Darsana via Jessore by Bengal Central Railway in 1884.

Two Narrow Guage lines were laid by Eastern Bengal State Railway (EBSR) from Kaunia to Dharla River in 1884.

The Eastern side of The Padma in East Bengal got 144-km long Narayanganj – Dacca – Tongi Jn. - Mymensingh MG line opened by Dacca State Rly as its first Railway connection in 1885, thereby making Dhaka connected to the river port of Narayanganj, mainly for carriage of raw jute up to the inland port of Narayanganj and then onwards by river to Calcutta.

To ensure better management, the Northern Bengal State Railway, Dhaka State Railway, NG Kaunia-Kurigram Railway railway line from Kaunia to Kurigram (Dharla), Cooch Behar Railway and Mymensingh-Jamalpur-Jagannath Railway were amalgamated with EBR in 1887.

1891 – 1936

It was only in 1891, that construction of the first massive railway track on the eastern side of The Padma got started by Assam Bengal Railway (ABR) - one of the pioneering railway companies in British India incorporated in 1892, having its Headquarter at Chittagong.

It would be pertinent to mention little bit about ABR at this juncture. ABR was formed to connect the Port of Chittagong to Tinsukia in Upper Assam through a Railway line towards export of Large Coal Reserve found in Makum, Tinsukia in Assam in 1865, as well as to meet the demand of the tea companies in Assam, which wanted railway facilities for the export of tea via the Port of Chittagong. It ceased to exist in 1942, when it was combined with the Eastern Bengal Railway to form the Bengal & Assam Railway (BAR), which effectively covered all railways to the east of the Hooghly, primarily to facilitate efficient running of the war against Japan.

The line diagram given at the beginning may be referred for a clear understanding of the activities/routes under ABR which have been described hear. Here is also a map of 1929 showing the ABR route.  in 1929.

 

 ABR undertook this project in phases by dividing the line into three sections for the construction of MG Track : (a) Chittagong to Badarpur with branches to Silchar and Laksham, (b) from Badarpur to Lumding, (c) from Gauhati to Lumding and (4) further north from Lumding to Tinsukia.

For Chittagong to Badarpur section, 150 kilometres (93 miles) line between Chittagong and Comilla via Laksham and 61 km line from Laksam to Chandpur Ghat of Chittagong to Badarpur section of MG railway line under this Project was opened to traffic on 1st July, 1895. This was extended as follows: Chittagong Port to Chittagong opened on 3rd November, 1895; Comilla-Akhaura-Kulaura-Shahbajpur opened on 1st January, 1896 and Akhaura to Badarpur opened on 4th December, 1896.

Towards the section Badarpur to Lumding, Badarpur to Damchara was opened on 23rd April, 1898 and Damchara to Lumding Jn on 1st December, 1903. The MG Rail route of Badarpur to Lumding section, which took almost eleven years to be completed, was an engineering marvel of those days, in respect of construction of a railway track in a difficult hill section having 1 in 37 Gradient in most of the way due to different altitudes, with a succession of 37 tunnels and 586 bridges / viaducts, including the amazing Doyang bridge that takes a curve literally up in the sky, up to the summit in the North Cachar Hills having the rail level of 1855 feet above the sea, which had to be built amidst a hostile environment of a massive earthquake on June 12, 1897, frequent interruptions due to heavy rainfall and rain forests infested with wild life which included rhinoceros, elephant, leopard, the wild buffalo and even tigers and the resultant difficulty faced towards the labour and material for construction and even of food for workers. This beautiful route stands closed now from 30th September 2014 due to Gauge conversion to BG and is having a new BG Track now.

As regards the last section that is Lumding to Tinsukia, a MG  branch line was constructed by ABR in 1900 connecting Guahati with Lumding. This was extended from Lumding to Tinsukia in 1902 and it was also connected to Dibru-Sadiya Railway (built by Assam Rlys & Trading Co. in 1885) in 1903.

Thus, in so far as the Eastern side of The Padma in the British India days is concerned, Chittagong Sea Port to Tinsukia Junction Railway station in the Upper Assam was the major trunk route covering a total distance of 574 miles, which got completed on 1st December, 1903. Meanwhile, Badarpur was connected to Silchar - the commercial city of Southern Assam in 1889. Laksham-Noakhali branch line of ABR was opened in 1903. Other Branches like Akhaura - Ashuganj, Kaluaru to Sylhet Bazar and Karimganj Junction to Dullabcherra came up by 1910.

Laksham – thus connected to Chandpur at the west side and Chittagong Port at the south-west side, became an important Railway Junction on being connected subsequently to Noakhali at the south-east side in 1903. Passengers for Chittagong Sea Port /Akhaura Junction / Comilla / Sylhet / Karimganj Junction / Badarpur Junction / Silchar/ Lumding would now arrive at Chandpur by Steamer after coming to Goalundo from Sealdah and Passengers proceeding to Dhaka and Mymensingh would have to go further upstream via the Meghna to Narayangunj, from where there was a Rail connection to Dhaka and Mymensingh by 1885, as stated eaelier. Rail connectivity was thus established to all these places directly from/to Chandpur and indirectly from/to Calcutta via Ferry service at Goalando – Chandpur inland water section.

Time Table of 1929 shows a Train named Surma Mail having Number 1 Up / 2Dn, running from Chandpur Rly station to Silchar via Laksam Junction, which was also having Slip coaches to facilitate rail connection to and from Chittagong and Sylhet through Laksham Jn. and Kulaura Jn. respectively. The name Surma Mail was derived from the name of the Surma River of Barak valley.

In keeping with the growth of traffic, a double line broad gauge track between Darsana and Poradaha was constructed in August 1897.

The Narayanganj - Mymensingh MG line opened by Dacca State Rly in 1885 got connected to EBR in 1899 through extension from Mymensingh to Jagannathgunj Ghat via Jamalpur and the entire route came under EBR. This route was running along the southern bank of the old channel of the Brahmaputra River.

Bengal Dooars Rly (MG) was opened in 1893, which subsequently opened link to EBR at Lalmonirhat in 1900.

2ft 6in/762mm NG line of Cooch Behar State Railway owned by the Princely State of Cooch Behar, connecting Cooch Behar to its junction with the EBR at Gitaldaha, was opened in 1898 to be worked by the EBR. This line was extended northward to the border with British Territory in 1900 and to Jainti in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in 1901. In 1910, the entire line from Gitaldaha to Jainti was converted to MG by EBR.

The Narrow gauge lines of EBR from Kaunia to Dharla River opened in 1884 were subsequently converted to Meter gauge in 1901, thereby effecting rail connection from Kaunia to Parbatipur through Parbatipur- Kaunia MG line by North Bengal State Rly in 1879 via Rangpur as stated earlier. This was extended from Kaunia to Amingaon in the Northern banks of Brahmaputra in 1908 where a ferry across The Brahmaputra connected it to the rail system of the ABR at Pandu on southern banks of The Brahmaputra, which, in turn, was connected to Guwahati via Maligaon (now renamed as Kamakhya). This ferry crossing got naturally discontinued after opening up of the Saraighat Bridge.

Like amalgamation of various railways with EBR in 1887 as described earlier to ensure better management, the BG Bongaon-Jessore-Khulna railway opened in 1882-84 and the 94-km MG railway from Santahar to Fulchhari (Tistamukh Ghat) opened during 1899 - 1900 were also absorbed in the Eastern Bengal State Railway on 1st April and 1st July 1904 respectively. The extended 44 km Kaunia-Bonarpara MG line was opened in 1905

Thus Amingaon got connected to Parbatipur via Kaunia through a MG Track from 1908, which led to the introduction of BG Assam Mail from Sealdah to Parbatipur and MG Assam Mail as its counterpart from Parbatipur to Amingaon, from 1908.

The rail connectivity from Calcutta to Dibrugarh so far was only via Goalando as described earlier. This was a tedious journey of about 54 Hours in total as follows:

Calcutta (Sealdah Stn) to Goalando                    . Goalando to Chandpur Ghat (Rly Steamer)         Chandpur Ghat to BadarpurJn                            Badarpur Jn to Lumding Jn                                Lumding Jn to Tinsukia  Jn. Tinsukia Jn. to Dibrugarh                                   Waiting Time at Goalando Ghat, Chandpur Ghat, Badarpur Jn. and Tinsukia Jn	: 08 Hrs : 07 Hrs. : 10 Hrs. : 10 Hrs. : 12 Hrs. : 02 Hrs. : About 05 Hrs
TOTAL	: 54 Hrs.

It was thus possible by 1908 to go to Assam from Calcutta by a much shorter route by reaching Amingaon Port at the northern bank of Brahmaputra from Sara Ghat through the route Ishwardi - Santahar Junction – Bogura – Kaunia - Teesta Bridge - Teesta Junction - Lalmanirhat Junction – Mogalhat - Dharla - Bamanhat – Golokhganj - Fakiragram and Rangiya, from where, the passengers would have to cross The Brahmaputra by Ferry to the eastern bank at Pandu Port Railway station administered by ABR, which stood connected to Tinsukia of Chittagong Port – Tinsukia line by ABR and from Tinsukia, one had to go to Dibrugarh Ghat Railway station of Dibru Sadiya Railway (MG) as stated earlier.

Laksham-Noakhali branch line was opened in 1903, followed by opening of the Tongi branch line between Tongi and Akhaura between 1910 and 1914, thereby getting Maimensingh and Dhaka connected with Akhaura. The Bahadurabad-Singjhani (Jamalpur town) MG line was opened in 1912. The Sylhet branch between Sylhet and Kulaura was opened between 1912 and 1915. Mymensingh-Bhairab Bazar Railway under ABR containing sections Mymensing-Gouripur, Gouripur-Netrokona-Mohanganj, Shyamganj-Jaria Janjail and Gouripur-Bhairab Bazar were constructed between 1912 and 1918. The Shaistagang-Habigang branch was opened in 1928 followed by the Shaistaganj-Balla and Feni-Belonia branches in 1929, the Chittagong-Sholoshahar branch in 1929, Sholoshahar-Nazirhat line in 1930 and Sholoshahar- Dohazari line in 1931.

The word 'State' was officially dropped from the 'Eastern Bengal State Railway' in 1915 and the old name of 'Eastern Bengal Railway' was resumed.

Two new branches of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway opened to traffic. The Kalimpong Road (now Gelkhola) branch followed the Teesta valley (hence known as the Teesta Valley Line) and the Kishanganj branch (built in the preceding year, 1914) ran west - southwest of Siliguri.

In order to provide a continuous link between Calcutta, North-east Bengal, North Bengal and Assam, construction of a bridge over the river Padma was essential. This led to the construction of 1.8 km long Hardinge Bridge (Commonly known as SARA Bridge) designed for double-lane broad gauge over The Padma between the Stations Bheramara and Pakshi on the trunk route to Siliguri on the EIR, which was opened to traffic on 4 March 1915, thereby discontinuing the ferry service of Damookdia Ghat – Sara Ghat.

With the imminent completion of this bridge, the call of the day became conversion of the meter gauge track from Sara Ghat to Siliguri , since the railway track on the eastern side of this Bridge being BG. Accordingly, the section from Sara Ghat to Santahar was converted to BG in 1914, followed by conversions of Santahar to Parbatipur section in July 1924 and of Parbatipur to Siliguri section by September 1926. Siliguri being thus connected directly to Sealdah via BG Track from 1926, the legendary 1Up/2Dn BG Darjeeling Mail started following the Route : Sealdah - Ranaghat – Banpur – Gede – Darsana – Chuadanga - Bhairamara - Iswardi –Santahar - Hili - Parabtipur - Nilphamari - Haldibari - Jalpaiguri - Siliguri from 1929, thereby making it as an overnight journey only like the present days.

The 80-km long Ishwardi-Sirajganj section was commissioned in 1916. Sirajganj was on the Western bank of The Jamuna and opposite to it was Jagannathgunj Ghat connected through Ferry.

The Tista-Kaunia NG line was converted to MG in 1928-29.

A BG Branch line was opened in 1930 from Abdulpur Jn. (on the Iswardi – Parbatipur line ) to Amnura, mainly to cater to the need of Mango and Sugarcane transportation. Subsequently, an extension of this line was made to Katihar Jn via Rohanpur -  but through a MG track, to make a further link with the West from Central Bengal, following the route : Amnura – Rohanpur – Singhabad (now Indo- Bangla Border) – Mochia – Malda Court – Old Malda – Harishchandrapur – Kumedpur – Katihar. Thus there was a conversion of track at Amnura from BG to MG, which accounts for half an hour stoppage of the train 19Up / 20Dn Sealda – Katihar passanger ( through Lalgola Ghat – Godagari Ghat Ferry connection) at Amnura as follows, as per the stipulation in the Bradshaw of 1944:

Sealdah (d 20-35) – Ranaghat Jn (a 22-40 d 22-50) – Lalgola Ghat (a 04-00) // Steamer (d 05-00 a 06-05)// Godagari Ghat (d 07-05) – Amnura (a 08-12 d 08-42) – Rohanpur (d 09-34) – Singhabad (d 22-50) – Malda Court (d 10-28) – Old Malda (a 10-37 d 10-49) – Katihar Jn (a 13-25).

Katihar Jn (d 14-30) – Old Malda (a 16-50 d 17-00) – Malda Court (d 17-15) Singhabad (d 17-45) – Rohanpur (d 18-15) – Amnura (a 19-00 d 19-30) – Godagari Ghat (a 20-50) // Steamer (d 21-40 a 23-10) // – Lalgola Ghat (d 00-35)  – Ranaghat Jn (a 08-56 d 09-06) – Sealdah (a 11-10).

It is of interest to note that the Stations between Old Malda and Katihar as per the ibid Bradshaw were: Old Malda – Adina – Eklakhi – Kumarganj – Samsi – Bhaluka Road – Harishchandrapur – Kumedpur – Lava – Kuretha – Katihar, whereas the current BG Route to Katihar from Malda Town ( through the Malda Town – New Jalpaiguri BG Route) also have the same stations between Old Malda and Katihar. It appears from this  that the new BG Track was made following the old MG alignment.

It has been said earlier that a double line BG track was constructed in August 1897 between Darsana and Poradaha. Further doubling of the Poradaha - Bhairamra, Bhairamara - Ishwardi and Ishwardi - Abdulpur sections was effected in 1909, 1915 and 1932 respectively.

Thus, by 1930, there were five important Mail/Express trains connecting Kolkata with Dacca, Chittagong, North Bengal, Assam and Tripura as follows:

1Up/2Dn MG Surma Mail from Chandpur to Silchar,

1Up/2Dn BG Darjeeling Mail from Sealdah to Siliguri,

3Up/4Dn BG/MG Assam Mail from Sealdah to Amingaon via Parbatipur Jn,

5Up/6Dn BG Chittagong Express and 7Up/8Dn BG Dacca Mail from Sealdah to Goalundo.

Timings of these trains were as follows :  

1Up/2Dn Surma Mail (MG) from Chandpur (21-00) to Silchar (08-38) / Silchar (15-42) to Chandpur (03-50) via Laksham Jn.

1Up/2Dn Darjeeling Mail (BG) from Sealdah (15-45) to Siliguri (05-45) / Siliguri (21-15) to Sealdah (09-55) via Poradaha Jn - Ishardi Jn - Santahar Jn - Parbatipur Jn – Hili – Haldibari – Jalpaiguri.

3Up Assam Mail (BG) from Sealdah (13-00) to Parbatipur Jn (21-30)  via Poradaha Jn, Ishardi Jn, Santahar Jn - connected to 3Up Assam Mail (MG) from Parbatipur Jn (22-40) to Amingaon (10-35)  via Rangpur, Kaunia Jn, Lalmanir Hat Jn, Golokganj, Rangiya/ 4Dn Assam Mail (MG) from Amingaon (20-10) to Parbatipur Jn (06-30) - connected to 4Dn Assam Mail (BG) from Parbatipur Jn (08-30) to Sealdah (15-30).

5Up/6Dn BG Chittagong Express from Sealdah (06-35) to Goalundo (12-35) via Darsana - Poradaha Jn – Kushtia / Goalundo (14-35) to Sealdah (21-25).  Connected to  this was 5Up/6Dn MG Chittagong Express from Chandpur (21-25) to Chittagong (04-30)/ Chittagang (21-00) – Chandpur (04-08). The Timings of the connecting Rly Steamer was 13-15 from Goalundo to 20-00 at Chandpur / 06-50 from Chandpur to 13-50 at Goalundo.  

7Up/8Dn BG Dacca Mail from Sealdah (21-10) to Goalundo (05-05) via Darsana - Poradaha Jn – Kushtia / Goalundo (23-00) to Sealdah (06-20). Connected to this was 7Up/8Dn MG Dacca Mail from Narayanganj (13-22) to Dacca (14-10)/ Dacca (11-30) to Narayanganj (12-04). The Timings of the connecting Rly Steamer was 05-50 from Goalundo to 13-00 at Narayanganj / 12-45 from Narayanganj to 21-30 at Goalundo.  

It is to be noted in this context that the Ferry crossings involved were through the Railway Steamers, with its fare included in the railway ticket itself.

1937 -1943

It has been stated earlier that the Tongi–Akhaura line came up between 1910 and 1914. This line was running on the eastern bank of the Meghna. In an effort to link this with the rail system on the western bank of the Meghna, the bridge over the Meghna River between Ashugunj and Bhairab Bazar ( originally named King George VI Bridge, popularly known as the Bhairab Railway Bridge) was opened on 6 December 1937, thereby enabling direct rail connectivity between Chttagong, Sylhet, Comilla districts in the east to Dhaka and Mymensingh districts in the west from Jagannathgunj Ghat (on the Eastern Bank of The Jamuna). Since Jagannathgunj Ghat was connected to Sirajgunj Ghat by Ferry and Ishwardi-Sirajganj section was commissioned in 1916 as stated earlier, we see a new route of the erstwhile 1Up/2 Dn MG Surma Mail in the Bradshaw of 1944 having number 9Up/10Dn from Jagannathgunj Ghat to Silchar following the route: Jagannathgunj Ghat – Singhjani(Jamalpur Town) – Maimansingh Jn (The line to Dacca got bifurcated from Maimansingh Jn via Tongi ) – Gauripur Jn – Kishoregunj – Bhairab Bazar Jn – Akhaura Jn from 1938 and simultaneously, a new BG Train as a counterpart of this MG Surma Mail, having same Number 9Up/10Dn and the same name, to run from Sealdah to Sirajgunj Ghat (on the Western Bank of The Jamuna) via Darsana – Poradaho – Ishwardi Jn. The ferry crossing of Sirajgunj Ghat - Jagannathgunj Ghat took 3 hours. The Timings of this train and ferry was as follows as per Bradshaw of 1944:

9Up Surma Mail (BG) from Sealdah (10-00) to Sirajgunj Ghat (17-30) /10Dn from Sirajgunj Ghat (11-35) to Sealdah (18-55) connected to 9Up Surma Mail (MG) from Jagannathganj Ghat (22-30) to Silchar (11-45) / 10Dn from Silchar (17-45) to Jagannathganj Ghat (06-35). The Timings of the connecting Rly Steamer was 18-30 from Sirajganj  Ghat to 21-30 at  Jagannath Ghat / 07-35 from Jagannathganj Ghat to 10-35 at Sirajganj  Ghat.  

It is mentioned in this context that the Bangabandhu Setu over The Jamuna, commonly called the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge - which came up in June 1998, is connecting Sirajganj on the east bank of The Jamuna to Bhuapur on its west bank. This has naturally made the aforesaid ferry crossing of Sirajgunj Ghat - Jagannathgunj Ghat insignificant.

It is of interest to note that the Journey time from Sealdah to Silchar by this 9Up/10Dn Surma Mail was 25 hrs 45 mts even inclusive of the ferry crossing of 3 hours as well as the speed limitation of the MG track, whereas the present day travel time from Sealdah (Dep 06-35) to Silchar (Arr 16-45) by Kanchanjangha Express on a completely BG track is 34 hours and in the reverse direction also, it is 25 Hours by Surma Mail and 33 Hours by Kanchanjangha Express.

I could subsequently find an old map of the zone/area under coverage of this post, which is appended here. The map is in two parts.