great undertaking the East Indian Railway - Forgotten Books

PREFACE .

IT is not everyone who realizes what a

great undertaking the East Indian Railwayis

,or what it has done and is doing for the

people and the trade of India and particularly of Calcutta. Yet the author hardlyventures to expect that this endeavour, tooutline the more important events in its

history , will prove attractive to the generalreader , or help him to an appreciation of the

facts .It is chiefly for those who are or have

been associated with or employed on theEast Indian Railway that this book has beenwritten, and if these, as well as those whoenter its service in the future , find somethinin its pages to interest them,

the writer Wibe rewarded.

The author would only add that in

attempting the work he has been promptedby a feeling that unless something was donenow, to place on record facts which are so,

easily forgotten and so soon buried in oblivion, the opportunity would be lost. N0 one

can be more conscious than he is of the manydefects and imperfections of his effort, and

had anyone else evinced a desire to undertakethe task, he would not have set it himself.

PREFACE.

IT is not everyone who realizes what agreat undertaking the East Indian Railwayis

,or what it has done and is doing for the

people and the trade of India and particularly of Calcutta. Yet the author hardlyventures to expect that this endeavour, tooutline the more important events in its

history, will prove attractive to the general

reader,or help him to an appreciation of the

facts .It is chiefly for those who are or have

been associated with or employed on theEast Indian Railway that this book has beenwritten, and if these, as well as those whoenter its service in the future , find somethinin its pages to interest them,

the writer wigbe rewarded.

The author would only add that in

attempting the work he has been promptedby a feeling that unless something was donenow, to place on record facts which are so,

easily forgotten and so soon buried in oblivion, the opportunity would be lost. N0 one

can be more conscious than he is of the manydefects and imperfections of his effort, and

had anyone else evinced a desire to undertakethe task, he would not have set it himself.

vi PREFACE.

In saying this he hopes it will be distinctlyunderstood that the production is onno senseofficial and no one but the author is in anyway responsible for it.His thanks are due to Mr. H . Wood

,

Secretary to the Agent in Calcutta, to whomhe is indebted for the two chapters on theProvident Fund and the Hill School ; toMr. P. A. M. Nash

,District Locomotive

Superintendent, who kindly furnished the

account of the Jamalpur workshops ; toMr. John Strachan

,late Locomotive Super

intendent, and to other friends whose assistance is acknowledged in the pages of thebook.

CALCUTTA, May 1906 . G. HUDDLESTON .

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I PAGE.

Formation of the East Indian Railway—Ori °

nal

Idea to connect Calcutta with Delhi— The irst

Contract—Commencement of ConstructionOpening of Line as far as Raneegunge

CHAPTER I I

Progress of Construction— Effect of theMutinyVisit of Mr. A . M. Rendel to India

CHAPTER I I I

Opening of theRailway to Rajmahal and subsequently to Delhi— Retirement of Mr. GeorgeTurnbull, the First Railway Engineer in IndiaThe Construction of the Chord Line decidedupon—Unexpected Growth of Traffic, followedby Complaints of Want of Adequate

CHAPTER I V

The Alignment of the East Indian Railway, andother matters

CHAPTER V

'

I‘

rade Depression—Mr. A . M. Rendel visits Indiaagain and criticises the Working of the EastIndian Railway—Establishment of a ProvidentFund

CHAPTER VI

Opening of theChord Line followed by aTemporarySlump inTraffic—TheBengal Famine of 1873 -4

Reductions in Rates— Coal exported from Caloutta- Analysis of Statistics introduced

viii comsu'rs.

CHAPTER VI I PAGl .

l

Visit of the Prince of Wales to India— Reductionsin Rates— Economies in Working— The MadrasFamine and Shorta eof Stock—General Stracheyvisits India— The iridih Collieries— Prosperityof the Undertaking

CHAPTER VI I IOpening of theRajputanaRailway leads toCompetition between Calcutta and Bombay—The V iewsof Government on the Question—The Positiondefined by Mr. Crawford, Chairman of the Eas tInd ian Railway

CHAPTER IX

Negotiations receding the Purchase of the EastIndian Ra '

way by Government

CHAPTER X

Questions before the Board after the Purchase ofthe Railway by Government—Retrospect of thePosition of the Company at the time—Reductionof Third Class Fares, and other matters

CHAPTER XI

Growth of theCoalTrade in 1883—TheQuestion ofWorking the East India Railway by State or

Company Management- Agitation in Calcuttaregarding Construction of the Grand ChordRetirement of Sir Bradford Leslie—Death ofMr. Crawford

CHAPTER X I I

Appointment of General Sir Richard Strachey asChairman—His visit to India

CHAPTER XI I IThe Grand Chord Line

CHAPTER X IV

The Jberriah Coal-field

CHAPTER XVCoal Rates

CONTENTS. 1!

CHAPTER XVI Paar

Growth of the Coal Trafi cCHAPTER XVI I

TheK idderpore DocksCHAPTER XVI I I

Train Service and Working Facilities—TheQuestion of Wagon Supply

CHAPTER XIX

Some Further Remarks on Competition and Rates 184

CHAPTER XXThird Class Passengers

CHAPTER XXI

Proposed Central Station in Calcutta

CHAPTER XXI IProvident Institution

CHAPTER XXI I IHill School

CHAPTER XXIVGeneral Growth of Traffic

CHAPTER XXVVarious Pro '

ects for deal ing with the ExportTrade, an other matters

CHAPTER XXVIStatistics

CHAPTER XXVI IThe Jamalpur Workshops

CHAPTER XXVI I IOutbreak of Plague— Immunity of E. I . R. fromSerious Accidents—The Delhi Durbar—Mr

T. Robertson’

s Enquiry into Indian Railway

I

V

ij'

lprlriilig— Removal of Carna

'

ge Shops to

I 003 000

CHAPTER XXIXThe East Indian Railway under Two Chairmen. ass

H I S TO R Y

THEEAST INDIANRAILWAY.

CHAPTER I .

FORMATION OF THE EAST INDIAN RAILWAYORIGINAL IDEA TO CONNECT CALCUTTAWITH DELHI— THE FIRST CONTRACTCOMMENCEMENT or CONSTRUCTION— OPENING or LINE AS FAR AS RANEEOUNCE.

IN May, 1845, or about twenty years afterthe construction Of the first railroad in

England, the East IndianRailway Company,was organised . The earliest report of theDirectors to the Shareholders was not made

,

however, until nearly two years later theinterval having been assed in ne otiations

with the Honourable East IndiaCompany,

and in the preparation of estimates of costand of trafi c, as well as in a survey of thecountry through which the proposed linewould pass.A t this time, the Chairmanwas Sir GeorgeLarpent, the Deputy Chairman, Mr. BazettD . Colvin,

and the Managing Director,

B ,EIR 1

2 HISTORY OF THE E . I . RAILWAY.

Mr.R.Macdonald Stephenson. Ofthese,Mr. ,

afterwards,Sir R. Macdonald Stephenson

,

may be said to have been the founder of

the Company, for he it was w ho first introduced the idea of railroads in India

,

and advocated the construction Of the EastIndian line almost along the same route thatit now traverses.It was in July, l 845 , that Mr . MacdonaldStephenson, accompanied by three well qualified assistants, proceeded to Bengal and on

arrival in Calcutta commenced, in theBoard’s words, with diligence and discre

tion which cannot be too highly commended ,to survey the line from Calcutta to Delhi

,

through Mirzapore, and SO great and persevering were the exertions of himself and

Staff, that , in April, 1846 , the surveys of thewhole line were completed ; important statistical information Obtained and an elaboratereport transmitted to your Directors inLondon.

” All trace of this re ort,excepting

only the statistics of cost andestimates of

tramo has been lost, but it strongly impressedthe Board with the conviction that a linefrom Calcutta to Delhi not only possessedolitical advanta es Of the highest order

,

at that it woul also prove a success as acommercial speculation. The statistical information obtained by Mr. Stephenson,

Showed that although the cost of introduc

ing an entirely new system of locomotion ina country such as India, was necessarily

PRELIMINARY NEGOTIATIONS. 3

subject to some uncertainty, yet, there weregood grounds for anticipating that themaximum expenditure on a double line Of

railway from Calcutta to Delhi , throughMirzapore, assuming that the Governmentwould grant the necessary land withoutcharge , would not exceed per mile .

It was also calculated that without anyincrease of the existing trafi c, that is to say ,of the traffic then forwarded b river and

road,a large dividend might be lboked for.

From the outset, the Court ofDirectors ofthe Honourable East India Com any, sharedwith the Directors of the Eas t In ianRailwayCompany, the view that the benefit to bederived by India from the introduction of

a railroad system was beyond question, butcircumstances in the political and monetarystate of India were constantly changing,while there was no certainty of the Londonshare market. Very great cautionwas therefore needed in conducting the preliminarynegotiations for the construct ion of so greata national work , involving so large a capitaloutlay, in a country so distant and at thetime so little known.

Terms were roposed in the first instance, which won d now seem to have beensufi ciently liberal, though the then Boarddid not think so, and ultimately obtained substantial modifications. The first conclusionsof the East India Company, and whatthey were prepared to do towards the

4 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY.

introduction of a railway system in India ,may however be summarised as followsl st. That it was deemed of great im

portance to connect the seat of the SupremeGovernment of India with the North -WestProvinces.

2nd. That provided no serious difficulty,

arising out of the phys ical character of the

country, was found to exist, the line of thefirst Railway in India should be fromCalcuttato Delhi through Mirzapore.

3rd. That the Honourable East IndiaCompany were prepared to sanction the

construction of two sections of that line ,one in the Lower and the other in the UpperProvinces to grant the land for the Railwayfree of all cost for ninety -nine years to

advance interest at four per cent. per annumfor fifteenyears, on the capital to be employedon these sections not exceedingsterling to commence paying such interestSO soon as the contract Should be arranged,and to receive repayment thereof whenthe profi ts of the line should exceed fourper cent.After much correspondence these terms

were modified, the chief points conceded bythe East India Company being that the rateof interest should be raised from 4 to 5 percent.

,and that the term during which this

interestwould be paid Should be raised from 1 5to 25 years. The revised terms were accepted by the Directors with a grateful sense

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6 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY .

talent and experience (Messrs. Adams andBeeston) were appointed to act, conjointlywith Mr. Stephenson, as their representatives in India

,and these three sailed to India

on the 20th September, 1847 , accompaniedby a Staff Of Engineers carefully selected bythe Company’s Consulting Engineer, Mr .James Rendel

,the father of the present

Consulting Engineer, Sir A. M. Rendel .SO far, once preliminary negotiations hadbeen settled

,it had been plain sailing

,but

unfortunately difficulties now arose whichtook some time to overcome . Various documents both anonymous and otherwise werecirculated

,and advertised in the public news

papers and elsewhere, in which endeavourswere made to prove that the proposed linecould not pay , certain Of the Directorsresigned, and some Of the proprietors delayedsettlement of calls on their Shares, withthe result that financial difficulties followed,and the staff sent out to India had to berecalled .

In the meantime , there were renewednegotiations with the Honourable EastIndia Company, which took up a couple of

years,but ultimately on the 17 th ofAugust ,

1849 , a contract was come to between the

East India Com any of the one part and theEast Indian Rai way Company of the otherpart, in which the two agreed to co- operatein the construction of a line of RailwayfromCalcutta towards theUpper Provinces ,

ORIGINAL CONTRACT. 7

on certain conditions,the most important

bein( 15. That the East Indian Railway Company Should pay into the Treasury of theEast India Company

,

That the East India Company shouldselect the route and direction Of a line of railway to be constructed as anexperimental linesuch line to commence at Calcutta or within 10miles of Calcutta, and to take such adirection as to form part of a line either toM irzapore or to Rajmahal, at the option of

the East India Company. Such selected lineto be completed by the Railway Company ,and opened for the conveyance of passengersand goods with all practicable speed.

That the East India CompanyShould provide the land required for therailway and for stations , offices and so forth .

That the East IndianRailway Company should make such gradients, furnishrails of such weight and strength, and provideeither Single or double line as the East IndiaCompany would direct, and Should also provide electric telegraphs and perform all suchdirections as might from time to time begiven by the East India Company .

That the Railway Company Shouldprovide a good and sufficient working stockand perform the duties of common carriersof goods and passengers, and allow the useof the railway to the public on terms to beapproved by the East India Company

,and


char e such fares as should be approved bytheEast India Company.

That the railway Company, itsofficers and servants, accounts and affairs besubject to the control and superintendenceof the East India Company , and that allexpenses be submitted for their sanction.

That the Railway and its works bekept in a state of ood repair to the satisfaction Of the East ndia Company.

That the East India Company paythe Railway Company interest at the rate of5 per cent. per annum on the paidto the East India Company, and that if theexpenditure of the railway Should exceedthis sum,

and further capital be raised,

interest at the same rate be paid on it also .

That the Railway Company conveythe Government mails and post bags and

servants of the post- Office free of chargeand convey troops and other GovernmentOfi cers and servants specified at reducedfares.

That the railway become the property of the East India Company after 9 9years, the engines, carriages, stock , machinery, and

plant being paid for at a valuation.

The rai way also had the right to surrender the line to the East India Companyand the East India Company had a rightof purchase on certain conditions

,at any

time within Six months after the expirationof the first twenty -five years.

EARLY OPPOSITION. 9

Such briefly were the terms of the firstcontract, and It seems unnecessary to detailthe Obstacles that had to be overcome beforeit was entered upon. For some years theBoard were confronted with difficulties andopposed by persons whose interest seems tohave been to prove that a railway, such a

slpro

gosed, could not possibly pay. A Mr. Ohn

ourne, for exam le,who had been a sur

veyor in the empoyment of the Company,

advocated that a single line of railway laidupon the Grand Trunk road to Mirzapore,was all that was needed. and endeavouredto prove that a Section of 150 miles outOf Calcutta could not be profitable ; heestimated the revenue on the traflic of thedistrict between Calcutta and Burdwan, and

putting this at a very low figure calculatedthat the working expenses, maintenance and

depreciation would be so enormous that theOutside dividend to be looked for wouldbe under 2 per cent. on the capital.Mr. James Rendel disagreed entirelywith Mr. Bourne ’s figures and estimatedthat even if his forecast of traffic wascorrect, a dividend of over 7 per cent.was far more probable . But this is

only an instance of the criticism of theperiod. Others held that natives would nottravel by railway

,and that there was little

need in a country like India which hadriver transport available

,to construct a

railroad for the movement of merchandise,

10 HISTORY or THE E . I . RAILWAY.

which, they held, could not be carried by railas cheaply as by river or road

, while speedwas no object. There were indeed many opponents to the scheme, but as the Boardremarked at the time ° In the introduction of an undertaking so vast and distantthere must always be difficulties in the firstinstance to surmount

,but when the stake

which the nation possesses in the interestsof India, and the results likely to attend theintroduction of railways into that country,are considered, the Board cannot doubt thedisposition of all the authorities connectedwith the Government of India

,to give those

encouragements to the object,which are

indispensable to induce capitalists to embarktheir money in it.”

Among the most indefatigable workers onbehalf ofthe Company was Mr. Stephenson,

and that this was recognised at the time i s

apparent from a resolution of the Shareholders recorded in 1849 - 1 850

That in consideration of the servicesrendered by Mr. R. Macdonald Stephensonto this Company, and of the extraordinaryexertions made , and the risks encounteredby him,

in introducing the railroad systeminto India, embracin three journeys toIndia and the survey 0? many hundred milesof railroad— it Is the feeling of this meetingthat he should be allowedg a compensationfor himself, and his family after his decease ,by way of a percentage on the net profits ,

FIXING THE GAUGE. 1 1

which, over and above 5 er cent. shall bereceived by the sharehol ers on the capitalinvested in the experimental section of

railway now contemplated , and that theDirectors be requested to take into consideration the rate of such percentage and submitthe same to a future meeting of the proprietors .

”

The Directors subse uently recommended5 per cent. as a suitabIe allowance, and Mr.Stephenson must have felt exceedingly satisfied. He embarked for India again inMarch1 850, together with Mr. George Turnbull ,the Resident Engineer- in-Chief, and in lessthan a year the first section of the Company’sproposed line was finally determined upon.

The Authorities, in the words of the

Board, have sanctioned the construction of

a line of railroad from Howrah , oppositeCalcutta

,to Pundooah,

with a branch lineinto the Raneegunge Collieries . The totallength will be from 120 to 130miles and

will in the first instance be laid with a Singleline Of rails.” At the same time contractsfor the construction Of the first 40 miles toPundooah were let in India, and soon afterwards work was commenced, a gauge of five

feet six inches being determined upon.

It is said that Lord Dalhousie actuallydecided the question of gauge for the firstrailway in India. At home there had beenmuch controversy as to whether the gaugefor English lines Should be 4

’8f

’ or

12 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAI LWAY .

S ome railways were made to one, others tothe other, Lord Dalhousie laid down that,in India, the gau e Should be between thesetwo extremes. Tl ad it been possible forLord Dalhousie to foresee subsequent developments he would probably have selectedthe 4

’ gauge, and if he had done so therewould have been no excuse for introducingthe com lication of the metre gauge .

Mr. II. A . Aglionby, M.P. ,now became

the Chairman Of the Company,and during

the early days Of construction the reportsof the Board were necessarily brief, butearly in 1852 , work having been started onthe section between Pundooah and Rancegunge, it was decided that the main line tothe North-West Provinces of India shouldproceed Cid Rajmahal, following the courseof the Ganges , that is to say, by the route

yvhich forms what is now known as the loopIne.

Early in 1854 . the first section of the lineto

'

Raneegunge was completed, and Mr.Aglionby,

addressing the Shareholders,advisedthem that a new contract had been enteredinto with the East India Company to extendthe railway to Delhi. Additional capitalwas now raised, and it was found that confid ence in the prospects of the undertakingwas gradually growing. A S Mr. Aglionbyremarked “it was the opinion of men bestacquainted withmercantilematters that few,

if any, companies in England at the present



opening Of the line their rolling stock and

engines would be found to equal anything of

the sort in England. The Directors of theEast India Company had readily met and

concurred in all his suggestions and by theextraordinary exertions of their engineers

,

a survey to Allahabad had been taken in

s ix months . Within four years their linewould be advanced to this populous and

im ortant town, and seven years hence theirrai way would be running to Delhi .From such speeches do we gain a glimpse

of the work of construction in its earliestdays, of the difficulties overcome and of thehopes for the future.The first division of the experimental line

from Howrah to Hooghly was opened forpassenger traffic on the 15th August 1854,and a fortnight later an extension was

opened to Pundooah . During the first Six

teen weeks no less than passengerswere carried, and the gross earnings (including receipts for a few tons of merchandise)were 92 1 5s. 9d. or an average of £424108 . l lfi d . per week , and the Board reportedthat “looking to the small portion of lineopened, the traffic has far exceeded the mostsanguine expectations ; and perhaps themostgratifying feature of all is in the fact that

,

contrary to a general belief in the indisposition and inability of the natives to availthemselves of railway communication, by farthe largest number of passengers carried

OPENING To RANEEGUNGE. 15

has been of the third class. The followingis an analysis of the traffic z— First Class

,

Second Class, Third Class,

It was considered a most extraordinaryact that the very oorest of the inhabitantshad availed themse ves of the Railway directly it was opened. The third class fare was

then 3d. per mile and there were only threec lasses, but the fact was proved that neithercaste prejudices nor other considerationswould prevent the native from making useof the new means of transport, thoughprevious to this many, who should perhapshave been better informed , held a contraryopinion.

The -line to Raneegunge was opened earlyin 185 5 , and this was held to be the termination Of the first or experimental line .

During the fifteen weeks after the line hadbeen Opened as far as Raneegunge, the number of passengers carried was or anaverage of nearl a week, and theearnin s rose to a out £900 a week.

Mr. W . Crawford, one of the Directors,

who had been appointed Chairman of theBoard Of Directors, on the death of Mr.Aglionby, inhis address to the Shareholdersin August 1855 , said that he looked uponthe report on the traffic they had carried asmost satisfactory not only as regarded itsamount and the prospect of its increase butalso in this particular

,that it put an end to


the gloomy anticipations of those partiesin this country

, whose acquaintance withIndia was of a rather ancient date , and whowere apprehensive that the prejudices of thenatives would prevent them travelling byrailway. Such was not the case .

” Mr.Crawford added that he had been himself inIndia and knew that the natives were fullyalive to everything that could improve theirposition. They were aware that time wasto them

,as to the people of Europe , a great

element Of profit, and they would, therefore,avail themselves of a means Of speedy transit from place to place , in preference toexercising the natural means of locomotion.

It may here he remarked that prolongedexperience has shewn that no truer wordswere ever spoken. The native of India likesto travel as fast as he can be carried, andat the present time there is no better proofof this than the preference given to therecently- introduced third class express trainsOver the slow passenger trains, but it tookmany years to recognise this , and it wasnot until 189 7 , during the ChairmanshipofGeneral Sir Richard Strachey, that thirdclass passengers were first admitted to themail trains below Allahabad, and not until1905 that express trains were first run for

lower class passengers.

CHAPTER II .

PROGRESS OF CONSTRUCTION. EFFECT OF THEMUTINY VISIT OF ME. A. M. RENDELTO INDIA.

WE have seen that the first contract withthe East India Company was dated the 1 7thAugust 1849 , that Mr. Stephenson proceeded to India shortly afterwards , and in

conj unction with the Government Engineers,decided upon the route the experimentalline Should follow,

and that in 1 854, or

within three and-a-half years of the time inwhich the land necessary for the purposehad been made over, the Railway was opened as far as Hooghly, and Shortly afterwardsas far as Raneegunge. Considering that all

the permanent-way, rolling - stock and otherstores had to be transported from England

,

in sailing ships rid the Cape, the time takenwas by no means long. By 1 856 , contractshad been entered upon for all the rails thatwould be required to construct the line fromCalcutta to Delhi , a distance of aboutmiles. That is to say a line which would beabout as long as from Land’s End to the

North of Scotland and back again.

During the eleven months of 1855 , in

which the line was open from Calcutta toRaneegunge, no fewer than passengers were carried , an amount of traffic quitesufficient to satisfy the most sceptical of the

H,ms 2


travelling propensities of the natives of

India, and beyond this there was an immediate development of the goods traffic .Contracts were entered upon to carry over

tons of coal from Raneegunge

to Calcutta, and a quantity of ordinarymerchandise was transported, which

,

though comparatively small , gave hopefor the future. In the second half of

1855 , the revenue from coaching traflicwas from OOds trafficfrom coal andthe working expensesamounted to 42 per cent. Of the gross traflicreceipts. During 185 6 the traffic continuedto develop

,and the working expenses were

considerably reduced. In this year Mr.Stephenson’s health failed, and he was com

pelled to relinquish his duties as Agent ofthe Company in India, to be succeeded in1857 by Mr. Edward Palmer who had had atraining on the Great Western and GreatNorthern Railways Of England. Mr.Stephensonnowjoined theBoard ofDirectorsin London.

The Company’s Consulting Engineer,

Mr. James Meadows Rendel , who had ren

dered most valuable service to the Company,

and had always expressed the greatest faithin its prospects, died in 1857 and was succeeded by his sons, Messrs . A. M. and G.

Rendel, but the latter Shortly afterwardsjoined the firm OfMessrs. Armstrong, leavingthe work of the East Indian Railway

OUTBREAE OF THE MUTINY. 1 9

entirely in the hands of Mr. A. M . (nowS ir A lexander) Rendel, who has continuedto be the Company’s Consulting Engineerever since. Proposals were under consideration at this time for two most importantextensions of the Railway, the first fromM irzapore to Jubbulpore to connect with theG reat IndianPeninsulaRailway running fromBombay, the second from Delhi to Lahore.In the spring Of 185 7 it was that the GreatMutiny broke out, and,

as a consequence, alarge

portion Of the work Of construction

was de ayed,while all new projects had to

s tand over.The Board’s re ort to the shareholders

dated the 29th of ctober 1857 , gives somea ccount Of the Company’s affairs in thatmemorable ear, and the following extractfrom it will e read with interest

The unfortunate events occurring in India at the

present time have, doubtless, created some anxiety as to theeffect which they may have had on the progress of theCompany’s operations, and the Board avai l themselves ofthis opportunity of making the Proprietors acquainted withthe circumstances of the Company to the latest date Theybeg to report that, whilst in common with the rest of thecommunity, theCompany has suffered by themutiny, it hasnot sustained that serIous amount of damage which mi hthave been feared as, irrespective of the sacrifice of valua lel ives , which the Board most deeply lament, the chief loss itwill have to deplore will be that arising from the temporarys toppa e of theprincipal portion of the works and the conseq uent clay in their completion. In the Lower Provinces,for instance, the damage done to the Company’s propertyhas beenmainly confined, as far as the Board is aware, to

certain station works , and the preparations made for the

Soane bridge ; and in the Up er Provinces and on the Riverto the destruction of some 0 its buildings, machinery and


tools. Ithas been a source of sincere gratification to theBoard to observe the praiseworthy efforts which have beenmade by the members of the Staff to protect the Company

’s

property, surrounded as in many cases they have beenWl threat personal dangers. I t would be invidious, where al l

gaveconducted themselves so well, to particularize indivi

duals, but the Board cannot refrain from noticing in termsof the highest commendation the conduct of Mesar Boyleand Kelly in the gal lant defence at Arrah, and in oing sothey are satisfied that they only echo the feelings of theentire executive in India.

”

The gallant defence at Arrah was one

of the most glorious episodes of the mutiny,

and the name of Vicars Boyle, the EastIndian Railway engineer who rendered thedefence possible, will ever be remembered,recorded as it is in every history of the greatStruggle . It need only be said here thatamong his colleagues he was always afterwards known as Victor Boyle.

”

Although themutiny retarded the work ofconstruction, the traffic on such portions of

the line as were already opened for trafficcontinued to develop, and there was a verygreat growth in the revenue, the total receiptsfor the year 1857 being 23 . 1 1d .

against 103 . 2d . in 1856 .

In 1858 the terms for constructing the

branch to Jubbulpore were concluded, and

were, generally speaking, precisely the sameas for the remainder of the line . Interest onthe additional capital requiredwas guaranteed.

by Government at 5 per cent. per annum, and

it was stipulated that the accounts were to bekept altogether distinct from those pertaining to the line to Delhi.



subsidiary to Calcutta, was about to be

established on the river Mutlah, Offered tomake the surveys of a line of railway to

connect that Port with the Company’sline .The Court Of Directors Of the East India.Company, having considered the matter, tookthe View that it was then premature to connect Mutlah with Calcutta by railway

,and

told the Board SO .

In the meantime, however, another Company was established for the express pu ose

of making this railway, and propose to

raise the necessary capital without anyguarantee of interest. On this the Secretaryof State for India invited the Board to

express their views. They replied in theseterms “ in the present state Of the questionof bridging the Hooghly, they are not prepared to recommend the Proprietors to

undertake the construction Of the Railway inquestion

,but if any concession for the

line should be made to third parties, it istheir conviction that a clause Should be inserted

,requiring the sale of the line to the

East Indian Railway Company hereafter, onterms to be settled by arbitration,

Should thepublic interests render such a course desirable

,

”and so the question Of directly con

necting the East Indian Railway with a

subsidiary port to Calcutta on the riverMutlah remained in abeyance until it wasre- opened by C01. Gardiner, Agent of theCompany

,many years afterwards.

MURDER OF HESSRS. EVANS AND LIIINELL. 23

At this time it had been proposed to en

trust the construction Of an extension of theRailway from Delhi to Lahore to the EastIndian Railway Company, and surveys weretakenby the Company’s Officers of the riverSutlej

,with a view to determining the best

point at which that river should be crossed,

but in 185 9 , the Government decided tomake this section over to another Company

,

then known as the “Punjab Railway and

the Board relinquished their claim.

In the meantime the survey of the Juhbulpore branch was being pushed on

,and it

may here be mentioned that, while in theprosecution Of this work , Mr. Evans, theChief Engineer, and Mr. L imnell, his

Assistant, were attacked and murdered by aparty Of rebels. Mr. L imnell whose qualifications

,

”in the words of the Board , were

reported to be of the highest order, had butlately joined the service

,but Mr . Evans was

one of the Oldest and most respected of theCompany’s officers , and had only recentlybeen promoted to the post which he held atthe time of his death.

”

Some details of this incident taken froman account given me by Mr . H . Wenden,

now Agent of the Great IndianPeninsular Railway, but at the time a youngengineer on constructionwork, supplementedby an account by Mr. JohnLewis, who was anengineer on the Jubbulpore line Shortly afterthe occurrence, are of considerable interest.


Durin the cold season Of 1858 - 9 Mr.E

,vans Chief Engineer of the Allahabad

Jubbu ore extension survey party, togetherwith essrs . L imnell and Colin Campbell

,

two of his assistants, were in camp in Rewahterritory at a place called Entowah. Theyhad just finished their midday meal whenCampbell hearing a bobbery” looked out of

his tent and saw a posse Of armed nativesbearing down on the camp. His sais

,an Old

grey- bearded Mahomedan,ran up to Colin

Campbell with his grey horse saddled and gothim on to it. By hard riding he managedto reachManick

ppre in safety, though chased

for many miles y sowa'rs,and the next day

went on to Allahabad where he reported thetragedy.

Mr. John Lewis says, “Colin Campbelltook me over the route of his escape

,and how

he stuck on his horse over such a country isone of the marvels Of horsemanship.

”

The men who made the attack on thecamp were part of a band of outlaws cast Oflfrom Tantie Topee’s force and led by a mutineer named Runmust Singh, who

,after

Evans’ head had been cut Off,ordered L im

nell to carry it.Limnell carried it until he was exhausted

and thenRunmust Singh ordered some of hismen to kill him ; this they refused to do saying they had killed one sahib, he must killthe other

,which he did by shooting him

down.

PROGRESS or CONSTRUCTION. 25

The countr was scoured by a body of

Alexander’s Horse and some Gurkhas, andshortly afterwards Runmust Singh was

captured and hanged in Rewah .

Throughout 1 859 , construction proceededapace

, work progressed along several sectionsof the Railway Simultaneously .

' The chiefd ifficulty lay in the transport Of materialup country, and another trouble of a moretemporary nature was a terrible choleraepidemic which ravaged the Rajmahal D istrict during October and November Of thaty ear. For some weeks no less than eightto ten per cent. Of the coolies employed diedweekly

,and the disease did not altogether

disappear until the middle of December.During the epidemic it is estimated thatover labourers succumbed, and the

reports of the engineers engaged on con

s truction shew what a trying time theybad.

But by the close of 185 9 , considerableprogress had been made . The 24 milesbetween the river Adjei and Sainthea

s tation,the remaining portion of the South

Beerbhoom District, had been Opened fortraffic

,while the section to Rajmahal was

a lmost completed. From Rajmahal also, asfar as Colgong

,the works were in a forward

state, and good progress was being madewith sections beyond as far as Monghyr, theJamalpur tunnel was in course of construetion, and the only bar to progress further


north was the want of bridge and permanentway material which could not be forwardedsufficiently quickly.

In the North-West Provinces also workwas already going on as far as Agra, whilearrangements were in progress for gettingpossession of the necessary land for the

entrance into Delhi. The Board reportedthat “the great difficulty still to be overcomeis the transport of permanent -waymaterialsfrom Calcutta to the works”, but they hadevery confidence that when the line isopened to Rajmahal , and their steam flotillais fairly at work, this last remaining bar tocompletion will be removed.

”

Let us now glance at the traffic beingcarried in these early days.During the year 1 859 , the number of

passengers carried was against.in the previous year.

The weight of goods carried wastons against tons - in 1858, and the

increase in the mineral traffic was so greatthat it was decided to extend what was thenknown as the branch to the collieries , fromRaneegunge to Barrakur.

The net traffic receipts, converted intopounds sterling at« the rate of 23 . the rupee,are

'

shewn in the following table

12 9

5 7 060 1 6121 mdes.

8227 70 1 ] 6

2 10

8 6

STATISTICS OF TRAFFIC. 27

In 1855 , the net receipts per mile open perweek were £4 19s. 4d. , in 1859 , £ 16 93 . 7d .

The percentage of working expenses toreceipts were , in 185 5 , in 1859 ,

The number of passengers oand tons of goodscarried compared

1855 . 1859 .

Passengers . Goods . Passengers. Goods.

N0. Tons. No. Tons.

At the end of 1859 , there were 19 passenger and 30 goods engines running on the line ,and 8 passenger and 20 goods engines underconstruction or repair

,the whole of the coach

ing stock amounted to 228 vehicles, whilethe goods stock only totalled 848 wagons.

CHAPTER III .

O PENING OF THE RAILWAY TO RAJMAHAL AND

SUBSEQUENTLY TO DELHI .— RETIREMENT OF

ME GEORGE TURNBULL, THE FIRST RAILWAY ENGINEER IN INDIA .

— THE CONSTRUOTION OF THE CHORD LINE DECIDED UPON.

-UNEXPECTED GROWTH OF TRAFFIC,FOLLOWED RY COMPLAINTS OF WANT OF

ADEQUATE FACILITIES.

ON the 4th July 1860,the first train ran

through from Calcutta to Rajmahal,and on

the 1 5th October following this section Of theRailway was advertised as open to the public,the interval Of the rains having been employedin putting the line into efficient order, and

allowing the earthwork to settle and consolidate. Great expectations,

”the Board said

,

have been formed Of the large traffic whichwill come upon this portion Of the line, butthe Board think it right to guard the Shareholders against too sanguine an expectationthat this traffic will appear simultaneouslywith its opening. It will certainly take time

to draw it from its accustomed channels, and

whilst no doubt there will at once be a veryconsiderable apparent tonnage conveyed, itwill principally be in the Company’s own

materials, the real trade of the country cominggradually, and until the advantages of railwaytransit are better understood In India

,pro

bably in the first instance somewhat Slowly.

”


30 HISTORY OF THE E. I. RAILWAY.

s truction of the Jubbulpore section and thispart of the scheme was, for the time being,placed in abeyance .During 186 1 , further sections of the line

were opened for traffic, 7 27} miles in Bengaland 120§miles in the North-West Provinces,and by the beginning Of 1862 the line wascompleted to Monghyr, so that the Companyhad at work 3595 miles in Bengal and 2432miles in the North-West Provinces

,or a

total of 603} miles, and there was everyhope that the whole of the main line wouldbe completed by the end of 1 86 2 . In thisyear also it was determined to proceed withthe construction of the Jubbulpore branch.

Throughout 186 3 various sections of themain line were completed

,but it was not

until the 1st August,1864, that the East

IndianRailway was opened up to the banksof the river Jumna at Delhi . The delaywas largely due to a question having beenraised by Government as to the route thel ine should follow. In the words of theBoard “The large bridge over the Jumnaat Delhi was being rapidly pushed forwardwhen the Government of India proposed thatthe line should proceed to Lahore, ridMeerutand Saharanpur, instead Of from Delhi , ina direct line to Ferozepore. Pending the

settlement of this question, the principalworks on this bridge have been temporarilysuspended, because the arrangement now

suggested might render it desirable to com

OPENING To DELHI . 31

plete the bridge as a road bridge into Delhiinstead of as a railway bridge. This alteration is undoubtedly of great advantage tothe Company engaged on the Lahore line,and appears to have been originated by theGovernment for good and suflicient reasonsbut it has necessarily involved many seriousconsiderations, which the Directors of thisCompany have , onpublic grounds, and in theinterests of this Company, thought it rightto submit to the Secretary of State.”

The questionwas discussed at great length,

but in the end the problem was solved by acompromise. It was agreed that the EastIndian Railway Should run into Delhi, and

that the Punjab line should be constructedm

’

c’

i Meerut and Saharanpur but that it Shouldalso have access to Delhi by running over ashort section ( 12 miles) of the East IndianRa ilway from Ghaziabad . Mr. Crawford ,Chairman of the Board, in his address to theshareholders in April 186 4 said that Itwas a great gratification to him to state thatthe line from Calcutta to Delhi was open fortraffic with the exception of the bridge overthe Jumna at Allahabad. They could now

take passengers over their line from Calcuttato Delhi and vice versd

‘ a distance of

miles. He thought everyonemust admit thatnotwithstanding the various difficulties andObstructions thrown in their way from timeto time, the progress they hadmade was verysatisfactory. They could not compare the


work on any line in England, either formagnitude or length of continuous line

, withtheir East Indian line. There was not a lineon any part of the Continent to compare withit. Even the Grand Trunk line of Canadacould not compare with it as to works

,pro

gress or length of line. The completion of

the works at the Delhi end of the line hadbeen impeded by considerations as to routeand in res ect of the point of junction withthe Panjahline . The original course of theline had been altered by the Government andit was now to go, through the centre of theDoab between two rivers , in the direction of

Delhi . The Punjab line had also beenalteredso that both lines Should enter Delhi . Thesealterations in route had caused great delayin finishing the third great bridge , involvingconsiderable expense to the Company. Theworks on the Jubbulpore line were proceeding satisfactorily , and there was every reasonto believe that the line would be completedby 186 6 . From information they had

received, there was no doubt theworks wouldbe completed on the Jubbulpore line to itsjunction with the Bombay Railway at Jubbulpore and be ready for exchanging trafficwith the Great Indian Peninsula Companywhen they could meet them with theirline.”

At this period the construction of thepresentmainor ChordLine was already underconsideration, several alternative routes had

GOVERNMENT APPRECIATION. 33

been surveyed and Government was beingpressed to sanction the adoption of one of

them. The great advantage of the Chordline was that It would shorten the distancefor carrying through traffic ” by nearly 100miles and save the expense ofdoublin the circuitons route rid the Loop or then ain line.In the meanwhile, the Government was

full of appreciation of the results alreadyattained. On the 25th August, 1863 , the

Secretary to the Government of Bengal,

Railway Branch, wrote to the Secretary to

the Government of IndiaWith reference to the results shewn in the Revenue

Account of the East Indian Railway for the last half year,which have been prominently noticed in the note submittedto the Government of India, I am instructed to state thatthe L ieutenant-Governor desires to express the gratificationwith which be re rds the successful issue of the operationsof the season. 0 vast amount of trafi c, both in passen.

rs and goods, which has been attracted to the Railwayuring the first six months of its openin to Benares,notwithstanding the novelty of the un ertaking, thenecessari ly imperfect nature of the station accommodation,the inexperience of the establishments and the insufi cientavailable means, both of locomotion and transport, reflects,inHis Honor’s Opinion, the hi best crediton the Company ’sofi cers, es cially those of t e Trafi c Department, withMr. Bate elor at their head, and holds out an almostcertain promise that the Railway in a short timewill notonly become independent of the guarantee and yield a

profit in excess of 5 per cent. to the shareholders, butmayeonduce beyond all former expectation to the wealth andimprovement of the country, and to the strength andfinancial prosperity of theGovernment.”

Previous to this the Viceroy, Lord Elgin,had personally gone over the line fromCalcutta to Benares, and wemust not omitto notice the following extract from the offi

II, ma 3


cial Gazette, in which is recorded what heObserved on his journey , and his appreciationof the work done by the Company’s ChiefEngineer in Bengal, Mr. George Turnbull,who, after thirteen years laborious duty,found that his health would no longer permithim to give the Company the benefit of hisservices, and was about to leave India. TheBoard, in referrin

gto the acknowledgment

by Government 0 Mr. Turnbull’s uniqueservices, remarked that

Gratifying as any such tokens of respect would doubtless be to Mr . Turnbull, they will be nothing as comparedwith the reward he will find in the contemplation of thek indly feelings with which future ages of India Willunquestionably regard thename of the man whose geniuslanned and whose indomitable courage and erseverance

ave carried out the magnificent series of wor s entrusted

to his care.

”

Extract from Official Gazette.

Benares, Febmwy 7th, 1863 .—H. E. the Viceroy on his

arrival at this city desires to congratulate the ofi cers of theEast IndianRailway Company and the nblic onthecompletion of the additional section of the rand Trunk line ofRailway, from Calcutta to theNorth-West Provinces, thathas been recently 0 ned toBenares, and on theprospects ofthe early 0 ning orthewhole line for traffic up to Allahabad and De hi.2 . The distance from Calcutta by rail to Benares is 541

miles. Work was begun in 1851. The line to Burdwanwas opened in February 1855 ; to Ad

'

ai in October 1858to Rajmahal in October 1859 ; to B agulpore in 186 1 to

Monghyr in February 1862, and to opposite Benares inDecember 1862 . In ten years therefore have been opened( includin branches) a continuous length of 601 miles,being at t e rate of 60miles a year. This is exclusive of

the portion of the line alread finished between Allahabadand Agra in the North -West rovinces, and of the sectionsfrom Agra and A llyghur, which it is expected will beready in a few weeks. Including this length, the progressof the East IndianRailway has not been short of ninety



with themost complete satisfactionto his employers and totheGovernment, and with thehighest credit to himself.

(SD .) R. STRACHEY, LIEUT.-COL.

, R.E. ,

Secretary to theGovernment of India withthe Governor-General.

Mr. Turnbull had encountered and Overcome various difliculties. Besides the magnitude of the works, the construction of a

railway was a novelty in India and a

practical knowledge of the country, the

eople, and their language had to be acquired.

he native had to be trained to accomplishtasks entirely foreign to anything he hadseen or heard of before and the wonderfuladaptability which enabled him to carry out,under Euro ean guidance, the constructionof a railroad

)

was In itself an indication thathe would afterwards be able to take chargeof its stations and goods Sheds, maintain its

permanent way and buildings, construct itsengines and rolling stock, work its telegraphand carry out, often under the most tryingcircumstances and contendin a ainst all

manner of difficulties, everyTingof dutythat would be likely to be re uired of him.

In the early progress 0 the work theengineers were much impeded by theSonthal insurrection, and the importation of

labourers from Nagpur and other distantparts became a necessity. The unhealthinessof some parts of the country, especially aboutthe base of the Rajmahal hills, was the causeof great delays, whi le fromMonghyr upwards

RETIREMENT OF MR. TURNRULL. 37

the effect of the Indian Mutiny was to

throw back progress for nearly two years.The circumstances of the route having beentaken along the banks of the Hooghly, theBhagarathi and the Ganges made itnecessary to cross all the affluents of thosegreat rivers , involving large bridges and

extensive viaducts, besides embankments of

unusual length and size, and if anypioneer ofrailway construction deserves a memorialto his name it is Mr. George Turnbull .Mr. Turnbull was succeeded by Mr.

S amuel Powerwho had been SuperintendingEngineer of the Soane bridge. At this timethe line had three Chief Engineers ; Mr.Turnbull had been Chief Engineer of theBengal Division, Mr . George Sibley was

ChiefEngineer ofthe North -West Provinces,and Mr. Henry P . Le Mesurier was ChiefEngineer of the Jubbulpore line . On the

opening of the line to Delhi Mr. Sibley alsoreceived the thanks of Government.By 1864 the traffic of the East Indian

Railway had fast outgrown the facilities fordealing with it ; stock could not be con

s tructed fast enough to carry the traffic but,as the Board explamed, there was no blamefor deficiency in rolling stock or othermattersthat could be laid to the Board. They hadsent out a large quantity of material, including ironwork for carriages and wagons ; butthe workshops and factories had been unableto supply the carriages fast enough.

” It is


curious to read now of stock difficulties so farback as 1864 the same cry had been heardten years before then and has continuedto the present time. But it was not only inregard to shortage of wagons that therewas , even in those early days, difficulty indealing with the traffic offering. Then, as

now, the terminal facilities were total]inadequate. In his report for the first ha fof 1864 Mr. Power, Chief Engineer, BengalDivision, remarks

I t is to be regretted that no improvement has takenplace in the terminus at Howrah, where, at this season, itIs distressing towitness the general embarrassment of thetraffic and the destruction of cotton, grain and otherproperty, arising principally from the want of accommodation at this station, fromwhence confusion appears to be

propagated over all the line. Theheavy expenditureon permanent goods sheds , formerly roposed, would not

be expedient now, when the estab ishment of a greatmetropolitan station in Calcutta is under discussion,”

While the Board said“At present the terminus of the line was at Howrah

opposite Calcutta, but everybody said the prOper place forthe terminus was in Calcutta itself, and it was proposedthat the East Indian line should be brought across the

Hooghly, by a bridge at a point about two miles aboveCalcutta, and thus be brought into the city itself, and thereform junctions with two other Railways. The capital re~quired for this purpose was about

The question of bridging the Hooghlyand constructing a terminus in Calcutta wasj ointly considered by Mr. A. M . Rendel,the Company’s Consulting Engineer, and

Mr. Power, who in 186 5 reported as

follows

Paorossn CENTRAL srarros m os tcurra. 39

I t can hardly be expected that the community ofCalcutta should be contented with their present means ofaccess to the Railway, and it has long been foreseen that assoon as the value of railway communication in India wasestablished, a demand would bemade for a more perfect connection with the capital. As far back as 1854, the subjectwas referred by the then Government of India to the lateMr. Rendel . During the Mutiny, and for a few yearssubsequent to it, the attention of the public was otherwiseoccupied, but early in 1862 Mr. Turnbull, by the directionof the Government, pre red plans for a bridge over theBoo hly, near Pultah Gb t. In the early part of last yearthe tern Bengal Railway Company

(pr

oposed to connect

their line with the East Indian by a bri e 30 miles aboveCalcutta. This scheme would have had t e effect of transferring to theEastern Bengal the whole of the East Indianthrough traffic for the same length . I t was thereforeopposed by the Board and ultimately rejected by theGovernment of India, a parently on the ground that, inthe interest of the public, the bridge should beplaced as

near as possible to Calcutta, and should be a part of theEast Indian Railway system. Finally, towards the close oflast year, a Committee was appointed in India by theGovernor-General to investigate the question in connection with the improvement of the port general ly . TheBoard are in possess ion of the evidence taken beforethe Committee and the report which they have had basedupon it. I t is sufi cient here to say that we fully agree withthe Committee in regard to thenecessity for the bridge andterminal station in Calcutta, also in regard to the siteselected for them. We have reason also to bel ieve that the

Government of India entertain a similar opinion ; andhowever much the Board may desire to avoid so importantan increase of the Company’s responsibilities, yet if it isoffered to them under the usual guarantee, they cannot, inour opinion, if they would be uncontrolled in the use oftheir access to Calcutta, refuse to undertake it .

”

Further reference will be made to thisproposal of bridging the Hoo

ghly and

constructing in Calcutta a centra station.

Suffice to say for the present that we knowwhat has actually been done. The Hooghlyhas not been bridged in the immediate vicinity of the city, except by a floating roadway

40 nxs'ronr or run a. 1. RAILWAY.

and there is no central station. The EastIndian Railwa crosses the river about 25miles North 0 Calcutta and runs on the

metals of the Eastern Bengal Railway to theKidderpore Docks, on the southern outskirtsof the city, and the idea of brid

ging the

Hooghly and constructin a centra stationis apparently further 0 accomplishmentthan it was in 1864.

Other schemes for improving facilitiesof transport were however being also cons idered and notably the construction of thechord line from Raneegunge to Luckieserai

on the Gan es. This scheme was stronglysupported Mr. Rendel on the groundthat it would

Ysave doubling the Loop lme be

tween Khana and Luckieserai, a distance of

252 miles, it would have the effect of bringing the coalfields 200 miles nearer the centreof the Company’s system, thus benefitingnot only the Company but the public, and itwould greatly shorten the distance betweenCalcutta and the North -West Provinces,the more material point being that it wouldplace Allahabad

,where the traffic of the

North -West Provinces would diverge to theeast or west

, in a position that would go farto counterbalance the advantage which Bombay has been assumed to possess over Caloutta as a shipping port.The arguments in favour of the chordline were such as could not be controvertedand the scheme was carried. I do not

nscl sxos ro cons-raver Tar.ouoao Li s a. 41

think that at the present day any betterarguments could be advanced in favour of

the grand chord line now under construction.

The position at the time was that the singleline via?) the loop could not carry the trafficoffering, in fact it was the general opinionthat it could not carry sufficient traffic to earnmore than a net revenue of 5 per cent.Therefore the question to decide was whetherthis single line

,traversing a round about

route should be doubled, or whether a newl ine by a shorter route should be constructed.The decisionwas infavour ofthe shorter route,but in the meantime considerable pressurewas put upon the Secretary of State and theBoard to double the loop or old line, as wellas to construct the new route vid the chord.

The Government of India and the BengalChamber of Commerce both urged upon theS ecretary ofState the necessity for thi s beingdone, but the Board shared the opinion of

their chief engineer, Mr. Power, that sucha course was quite unnecessary and eventually the Secretary of State accepted theviews of the Board. That these views werecorrect is proved by the fact that up tothe present time the loop line remainss ingle and fully meets traffic requirements.The work of constructing the chord line

was exceedingly slow and it was not openedfor public traffic until the l st January187 1 , although the centre line had been set

42 msrosv or m s 3 . 1. RAILWAY.

out by the engineers early in 1865 . I t is

true that the country is broken and difi cult

and that the thick j ungle necessitated veryclose examination to select the best ground,but after all this had been done there were

great difficulties with the contractors whoad taken up the work of construction and

it was on this account that the chief delayoccurred.

The brid e over the Jumna at Allahabadwas opene for traffic on the 1 5th August,186 5 . It had takennearly 8 years to constructand its completion was a subject for muchcongratulation ; it was the middle link in thelong chain of unbroken communicationestablished by the East Indian Railway, forthe first time in the history of India, betweenthe right bank of the Hooghly at Calcuttaand the left bank of the Jumna at Delhi.Mr. Sibley, the Chief Engineer of the NorthWest Provinces and Messrs. Collett and

Donne , the District and A ssistant Engineersand the subordinate staffunder them receivedthe thanks ofGovernment and the encomiumsof the Board.

The only remainin works of constructionnow inhand were the ridge across the Jumnaat Delhi together with the station arrangements in that city

,the Jubbulpore branch and

the chord line with its branch to the Giridihcollieries. Itwas also decided to double partof the line

,which was then all single with the

exception of the Burdwan-Howrah section.


44 HISTORY or was 11. 1. RAILWAY.

what the Goverment had guaranteed to theshareholders.

In a previous chapter the annual net

earnings were given to the end of 1859 , and

continuing this we find them to have beenduring the next seven years

s d.

14 101 9

10 5

9 3

12 4

1 1 1

6 2

In 1859 , under a million and a half passen

gers were carried , in 1886 the number hadrisen to considerably over four millions, Whilethe weight of goods and minerals lifted had,in the same period, risen from to

tons. In the working expenseshowever there was very little improvement ;s tanding at 448 5 per cent. of the grossearnings in 1859 they had only been reducedto per cent. in 186 6 .

The growth of traffic had, as previouslyindicated, been far beyond the most sanguineexpectations and considerable dissatisfactionwas expressed by the public at the inadequatefacilities provided by the Railway. In his

address to the shareholders on the 29th June ,186 6 , Mr. Crawford referred at some lengthto the complaints made. He said

The sub '

eet of traffic naturally sug cats to me the com

plaints whio have been made in India uring the last fourmonths with respect to themanagement of our line. And

couRLA m'rs or 111 1101101111“ FACILITIES. 45

upon that I must say that while, undoubtedly, a sin lsline has not been found equal to the conveyance of t e

trafi c of that part of India which it serves, so efficiently aswe should des ire, still I am bound to’ sa that I cannot accepton the part of the Company any h ame in consequence.

It was not at all unreasonable to expect that whenthe l ine was completed throughout, the traffic of that partof India would be brought on our line, in a great degreedeserting the old modes of conveyance, whether by road or

by river. But it would have been, I a prehend, an unwise

p‘plicy on our part to have anticipate that event to thellest extent, even if we had the means to do so, because

if any disappointment had ensued, then I think, the Directors would have been fairly char sable with something approaching to rashness if they h embarked your money inan unnecessary outlay.”

Such was the explanation of the Chairmanof the Directors, and from it, if from nothingelse, the fact clearly stands out that thetraffic to be carried far exceeded all anticipations. The Railway in short was quiteunprepared for the demands made upon it

,

but considering the expenditure that improvements of facilities would have involved,caution was needed and the Directors couldnot be blamed for exercising caution or fortaking time to consider and examine whatwas best to be done. The merchants of

Calcutta held a meeting at which someresolutions were passed , first That no

check of any kind should be placed on the

supply of rolling stock till the requirementsof the traffic are satisfied. Secondly Thatthe line should be doubled throughout itsentire length with as little delay as possible.”

Thirdly That by means of a bridge overtheHooghly at Calcutta, the terminus ofthe

46 ms'roav or THE R. I . RA1LWAY.

l ine should be transferred from Howrah to

the metropolis , and if ssible, to somecentral position which sha l form a terminuscommon to all lines entering this CitNow it would have cost robably six

millions sterlin to double the ine throughout and to ad such a supply of stock as

wouldmeet all the requirements of the busiests eason and the interests of the shareholdershad to be considered— but apart from this itwould not have been possible at the time toraise in London so large an amount of additional capital . Therefore the Board had to addto the facilities by degrees. Over 9 9 per cent.of the capital of theEast IndianRailway hadbeen subscribed in London and the Chairmanheld the opinion that it was not quite reasonable that merchants in India should expectother people to find an unlimited amount forthe purpose of enabling theRailwa uponanemergency, to meet every possib e demandmade upon it. But,

” he added,

with aeat traffic existiu with the certaintyeforeus that the tra c whenfully developedwill be sufficient to pa a very large return

,

even as a double line, have no doubt whatever, that our policy of radually doublingthe line at convenient p aces, from time totime, and as gradually stocking it, willanswer all the j ust expectations that can beentertained of us.”

At this time the line was about to bedoubled from Luckieserai, where the Chord

Anm'rxoxs ro ROLLING 670011. 47

and Loop lines met, as far as Allahabad and

arrangements had been made for the supplyof no less than 2 15 additional locomotives.In addition to this the rolling stock was

being materially added to, so that the Boardof Directors were doing all that could wellbe expected of them and were by no meansasleep to the position.

CHAPTER IV .

THE ALIGNMl NT or THE EAST INDIAN RAILWAY AND OTHER MATTERS.

THE actual route the East IndianRailwayshould follow on its course from Calcuttato Delhi, naturally formed a subject formuch controversy. The eneral idea was toget to Delhi through irzapore and the

original survey was made with the intentionof taking the line very much along the

course of the route now being constructedas the Grand Chord it was in fact at firstproposed to run the lower section of therailroad in as direct a line as possible toBenares.Had this idea been adopted, the selection

would not have been without distinctadvantages. It would, in the first place,have g1ven a far shorter route to theNorth-West Provinces than that affordedby the Loop line ; secondly it wouldhave led to the discovery ofthe Jberriah Coalfield forty years earlier than it was actuallyopened up ; and thirdl it would have al

tered the whole comp exion of the IndianMutiny, for without any great pressure on

the resources of the engineers the shorter

DECISION IN FAVOUR OF THE LOOP L INE ROUTE. 49

route could easily have been completed asfar as Rajghat, on the banks of the riverGangesoppositeBenares

,before thesummer Of

1 857 . I f this much had been accomplished,Benares, instead of Calcutta, would haveformed our military base

,the massacre of

Cawnpore would have been unheard of and

Lucknow would never have been besieged.

Our troops would, in short,have only had to

deal with Delhi, and the East IndianRailwaywould have been the means of saving at leasthalf the bloodshed , and of terminating thestruggle in quarter the time actually taken.

When the Mutiny broke out the rail endedat Raneegunge, that is to say, within 12 1

miles of Calcutta,and when time meant

everything and each day was precious,it

took troops the best part of three weeks tomarch from the rail head to Benares, whilethe conveyance Of stores and munitions of

war took still longer.At leas t two years were lost in discussion

,

but at last the decision was come to, to takethe main line more or less along the course Ofthe Ganges

, the chief Object being to tapthe river at Rajmahal.” When, however, therailway got as far as Rajmahal, there wasno river to tap

,as in the meantime the

Ganges had changed its course and the imortance of Rajmahal had gone . But apartg'om this, the idea of making the main lineDid the loop and constructing a branch lineto the Raneegunge coal field, committed the

H, EIR


railway to an impossible course for its upcountry coal traffic. It meant that all coalfor Upper India had first to be conveyed fiftymiles In a downward direction, and then hadto be sent upwards by the roundabout loopline . To illustrate in some measure whatthis amounted to when put into mileage, itis only necessary to say that the openIng of

the present Chord line effected a saving Of

146 miles betweenRaneegunge and Benares,

while the opening Of the Grand Chord linewill mean the saving of another 50miles between the same points .On the other hand there is much to besaid in favour Of the decision to run the

original main line along the fertile valley of

the Ganges. Setting aside the fact that,before the days of railroads

,the river was the

chiefmeans of transport and the main routeof commerce , all the more important townsand trading centres such as Bha ulpur,Monghyr and Patna lay along its bani s, andseeing that the first object of the railway

,

from a commercial point of view,was to

secure traffic,it was most desirable that

these towns should be served. They werethe marts for the disposal of the produce ofthe adjoining districts

,including the trans

Ganges districts whi ch were then, of course,without railroads of any kind. It was morenecessary to open out this part of the countrthan to run a railway through a coalfieldjwhich, seeing that there was then but a



be said that had this route not been followedby the East Indian Ra ilway at the outset

,

another company would certainly havestepped in ; the Great Western of BengalRailway was in fact formed with this veryObject.AJI alternative which does not appear tohave been discussed, but has occurred tothe writer, would have been to continue theloop line as far as Moghalsarai and to construct the main line by the route which theGrand Chord will follow. This would havesaved the construction of the present Chordbetween Sitarampur and Luckieserai

,a sec

tion of the line which is not at all profitable

,except for the Giridih branch, which

could have been constructed in the reversedirection.

The loop line had not been opened longwhen the necessity for the Chord or presentmain line was established, and its construc

tion decided upon ; it would have been afatal error if, instead of constructing the

Chord line, the single line along the loophad, as some proposed , been doubled. Itwas enough that, at a time when railroadsin India were mere experiments , the embankments and bridges Of the loop wereconstructed to carry a double line, thoughto this day a single line is ample for itstraffic requirements.In the meantime other questions as to

alignment arose, the more important being

AL IGNMENT BETWEEN AGRA AND DELHI . 53

that in relation to the route to be followedbetween Agra and Delhi. It was at firstdecided to cross the Jumna at Agra and torun the line along the right bank of thatriver to Delhi ; this was indeed the moredirect route and work was actually startedon it, part of the embankment being inevidence to this day. Before, however,any rails were laid, a discussion arose and as aconsequence a change was introduced ; theGovernment decided that the better coursewas to construct a branch line to Agra , inthe same way that a branch line had beenconstructed to the river Ganges oppositeBenares

, and that the main line should betaken along the Ganges Doab, that is to say,between the Ganges and Jumna rivers,cross ing the latter at Delhi instead Of atAgra. Here again the great advantage wasthat more important towns would be served ,and a still more fertile country traversed,than by following the shorter and moredirect route along the right bank of the

Jumna. These being the facts it seemsparticularly unjust that years afterwards

,

overlooking the claims Of the East Indian,the construction of the direct line betweenAgra and Delhi should have been given byGovernment to a competing railway ; yetthis is what has been done and a Wes

tern India line now owns the route originallyproposed by the East Indian Railway, and

competes for its traffic.

54 HISTORY or THE E. I . RAILWAY.

Havin reached Delhi the primary Objectof the East Indian Railway was aecom

plished. It is unnecessary to refer againto the controversy as to the entry intoDelhi and the proposal that the East IndianRailway Should be continued to Lahore, weknow how these questions were settled ;it is enough to say that

,at the time, the

Directors were satisfied with what hadbeen accomplished

,and that until after the

appointment ofGeneral Sir Richard Stracheyas Chairman of the Board

,nothing more in

the way of extension or construction wasundertaken, although , as indicated elsewhere,the claim of the East Indian Railway to

construct the Grand Chord line was,from

time to time strongly pressed on the Government. The story of the Grand Chord lineis dealt with in another chapter ; it wouldhave been hard indeed had the making of

this route been also entrusted to anothersystem.

Time passed, and the construction of otherrailways proceeded apace . The Government of India came to the conclusion thatin order to open up those parts of the

country,Off the main routes

,where traffic

was not likely to be heavy,certain railways

Should be constructed on the metre gauge ,instead of on the broad gauge which hadbeen accepted as the standard when railwayconstruction began In this way” the, l iaiputana Railway cameint03 fi §t€fi ce and has

RAIL OONNEOTIO N WITH SIMLA. 55

ever since been saddled with the transhipment difficulty

,at every point ah ehtchmt/

j oins a broad gauge line ; a severe- handicap

in many ways, but particularly so whereThere are few who

doubt metre gauge lines Shouldonly be constructed as feeders to broadgauge railways

,but SO far as the writer

knows, there is no definite policy in thematter.In their anxiety to make railways cheaply

,

the Government also sanctioned a metregauge railway between Muttra and Hathras,which was afterwards extended to Agra on

the one side and to Cawnpore on the other.This line was made within the sphere of

influence of the East Indian and at oncestarted to compete for its traffic. How itwas that the East Indian Railway failed to

protest against the scheme Is not clear, buti t i s evident that this line should have beenconstructed on the broad gauge , as part Ofthe East Indian system which it crosses.In 1889 a Company was formed to connectthe East Indian Railway with the summerhead-quarters of the Government Of Indiain Simla. This line , starting from Delhiand terminating at Kalka at the foot of theSimla hills, is known as the Delhi -UmballaKalka Railway

,and is worked by the East

Indian as part of its system. Since then aRailway on a 2’ 6

” gauge has been con

structed between Kalka and Simla which Is


managed as a separate concern,but has not

so far proved a financial success the cost ofits construction seems to have been a greatdeal heavier than at first anticipated, whileits traffic is inconsiderable .The South Behar Ra ilway which runs

from Luckieserai Junction to Gya is anotherline constructed by a company but workedby the East Indian

,and in the same way

the East Indian works the Tarkessur Railway,

a short branch from Sheoraphuli to

Tarkessur. The Patna-Gya line originallyconstructed by the State and worked as aState line, and the branch from Nalbati toA zimgunge, which had also become a StateRailway before it was handed over to theEast Indian and its gauge altered

,are now

incorporated with the East Indian,and there

is little doubt that the South Behar shouldbe treated in the same way.

CHAPTER V .

TRADE DEPRESSION—MR. A. M. RENDEL VISITS

INDIA AGAIN AND ORITIOISES THE WORKING

or THE EAST INDIAN RAILWAY— ESTABLISHMENT OF A PROVIDENT FUND.

FOLLOWING several years of progress and

successive seasons Of increase , a temporarycheck set in in 186 7 . The period was markedby extreme depression in trade

,and added to

this the country was visited by abnormalfloods, rendering the roads to the stations impassable for heavy traffic. The cotton boomof 1 86 6 , which had done so much to increasethe receipts that year

,was at an end

,and

under all heads Of merchandise there was afalling Off

,though fortunately the passenger

traffic continued to grow.

This change in the march of progress atonce drew attention to the question Of

expenditure, and the point was raised whetherit was real] necessary or desirable to proceed with all the different works that hadbeen sanctioned. Mr. A . M. Rendel , theCompany

’s Consulting Engineer,was accord

ingly deputed to visit India again, to investigate the question on the Spot, in

communication w ith the officers of theCompany and Of the Government, and toconsider in regard to works in contemplationor in course Of execution

,whether they

58 BIS l‘

ORY OF THE E. I . RAI LWAY .

should be proceeded with or deferred. Mr.

Rendel proceeded to India in November1 86 7 , and returning inMarch 186 8, submitteda very full report on the various mattersrelating to his mission. He found that thegreat growth in expenditure during the

preceding two years had been in advance of

the natural development of the traffic, andas a consequence

,many works which were

projected, when it seemed that the power Ofthe Railway to carry traffic was the sole limitto its use

,were indefinitely postponed. Among

others the doubling of the line betweenGahmar station and Al lahabad was deferredresulting in a saving of aboutHe reviewed the question relating to theconstruction of a bridge across the Hoogh lyriver at Calcutta ; dealt with the detail of

duty performed by rollingstock,stated his

view that the mileage run was out of proportion to the work done and criticised theworking generally. He advocated mixedtrains and a reduction in the third class farefrom 3 to 2% pie per mile , and investigatedfuel consumption and numerousothermatters .He also advocated that the whole line shouldbe placed under one

,instead Of three chief

Engineers, examined generally the establishment employed and proposed certain rulesrelating to the salaries of the staff and

so forth. He altered the form of statisticsshewing cost of working the line and mademany suggestions which could not fail to


6 0 HI STORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY .

and from a given date,with a monthly pay

of Rs . 30 or over,and those who may be

promoted to this pay,shall be required to do

so.

2nd. That the staff shall be divided intotwo Classes— Class A consisting Of allEuropean servants of the Company and

Class B comprising all servants of the Company not Europeans.3rd. That those in Class A shall contribute

5 per cent. and those in Class B per cent.on their respective monthly salaries.4th. That the Company Shall contribute

annually 1 per cent. on the surplus net

earnings, after 6 per cent. per annum hasbeen appropriated to the Company and theG overnment , in the terms of their contract,together with l per cent. on the 6 per cent. soappropriated so far as the surplus will admitof the said contributions.5th. That the monies of the Fund Shall be

invested, from time to time , either in IndianGovernment secur ities or in railway stock,and that subject to rules andregulations to beprescribed by the Board

,the Fund and all

accruing interest shall be the pro erty of

the respective members of the sta in theratio of their subscriptions.Such were the rules of the originalProvident Fund. Its creationwas beneficialto the staff in numerous ways and it had theeffect of giving every servant a direct personal interest in the economical working of

OPENING OF JUBBULPORE BRANCH. 6 1

the line, but it has never to this day givenany employee a sufficient retiring allowance,and although various changes have beenmade in the original scheme, all of whichhave been introduced with the Object of assisting the subscribers, a strong feeling existsthat something more is needed.

In 186 7 overtures were made to the Boardto take over the Nalhati Branch Railway

,

constructed by a company known as theIndian Branch Railway Company, but theBoard then declined to entertain them

,as

they were not prepared at the time to

construct or work any more branch lines.”

It was not until about 30 years afterwardsthat this railway, which in the mea

gime

had been transferred to the State an wasknown as the Nalhati State Railway

,was

taken over by the East Indian and convertedinto a broad gauge line. It is known now as

the Azimgunge branch line, and is part andparcel of the undertaking.

The Jubbulpore line was opened on the

l st August, 186 7 , before the Great IndianPeninsular Ra ilway was ready to connect

,

and in the same year it was decided to

construct a road bridge between Howrah and

Calcutta,thou h whether this work should

be undertaken y direct Government agency,

or committed to the Municipality withGovernment assistance, was not then settled.

During the second half year of 186 8 thetraffic Shewed signs of reviving and the net

6 2 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY.

receipts of the year exceeded those of 186 6 ,

but the depression was not yet over and thedevelopment of traffic for some time wasvery gradual.The following statement shews the net

earnings of the Company from 1866 to 186 9

inclusive8. d.

1866 6 2

1867 12 s

1868 16 2

1869 6 10

The increases shewn in the net earningswould not have been so great but for thefact that working expenses were considerablyreduced. By 186 9 they had been broughtdown to per cent. of the gross earnings.I n this year the number of passengers carried was and the weight Of goodsand minerals tons.In 186 9 the East Indian Ra ilway V olun

teer Rifle Corps was formed,Mr. Edward

Palmer,the Agent, was the first Honorary

Colonel and about 4 16 servants of the Company at once enrolled themselves. The numberof members has Since increased very greatlyand the corps is now over strong withvery few inefficients.

CHAPTER VI .

OPEN ING OF THE CHORD LINE FOLLOWED BY

A TEMPORARY SLUIIP IN TRAFFIC— THE

BENGAL FAMINE or 1 87 3 - 4— REDUCTIONSIN RATES— COAL EXPORTED FROMCALCUTTAANALYSIS or STATISTICS INTRODUCED .

THE year 1870 opened with the Chord linestill awaiting completion,

but otherwise thiswas the only important work of constructionthat remained unfinished.

The Chord line was Opened for publictraffic on the 1st January 187 1 , and on thisdate the work of constructing the EastIndian Railway was considered to haveended. The engagements of all engineersnot required for the maintenance of the linewere now terminated, and the Board directedthat the permanent staff should be fixed atthe lowest scale consistent with the natureof the duties to be performed.

”

The openin of the Chord route increasedthe mileage O the Railway to miles400miles being double and 880miles singlebut no sooner had the Railway been thusfar completed than a serious decline in trafficset in. The tonnage of goods and mineralscarried during the first half of 187 1 was

tons,against tons in the

corresponding half year of 1870. The

64 HI STORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY.

Company’s goods sheds were empty,its

wagons lay idle in sidings and many of its

engines were put out Of running. TheGovernment of India were so concerned thatthey appointed a Committee to investigatethe cause .

But there were no doubts as to the chiefreasons of the decrease in 1 870 an exceptionally large famine traffic had been carriedin consequence of a scarcity in the NorthWest Provinces, while the export seed tradeof 1 87 1 was much smaller than in the preceding ear

,because Ofa dull market inCalcutta

,

and ecause, in the words of the Board, themerchants, whenever the market was dull,preferred the somewhat cheaper thou hmore dilatory conveyance afforded by theriver

,which owing to a very heavy rainfall,

became nav1gable at an earlier period Of

theyear than usual .” Then again the Boardtell us of another cause of decreas ed traffic

,

which is curious reading in these days,

“theimportations of English coal at Calcutta

,

as compared with any previous period sincethe Ra11way has been opened, have been solarge as to have successfully competed inprice with native coal, and have unques

tionably very seriously interfered with themarket for the latter.”

The Committee appointed by Governmentdo not appear to have thrown any fresh li hton the question, but there is little doubt t at

the rates charged at the time were excessive,

RETI REMENT OE MR. E. PALMER. 65

or traffic would not have fluctuated as it didbetween the river and the rail . A change inthemode Of regulating the charge for carriagewas sorely needed, though the point was notseriously taken up until some years later

,

when the experiences Of a serious famineShewed what the possibilities were . Greaterattention seems, however, to have been paidto

.lowerin the cost of transport

, and a

further re notion in the working expensesfollowed. In the first half of 1872 thesewere brought down to per cent. of thegross earmn s and in 1873 to 37 per cent.In 1 873 r. E. Palmer, who had succeededSir Macdonald Stephenson in May 1857 andhad held the Office of sole Agent until 186 6 ,when a fresh Board ofAgency, of which hebecame Chairman,

was constituted,retired.

Mr. Palmer left the East IndianRailway, theforemost line in India for financial success

,

and in the words of the Consulting Engineerto the Government of India, second to nonein vigour of adm inistration.

” The Government of India also expressed their apprecia

tion ofMr. Palmer’s “long and loyal serviceand high character.”

The Agency was now reconstructed,and

instead of consisting of three members,was

conducted by two onl Messrs. CecilSte henson and George Sihley

wing to a failure Of the rains in 1873 a

famine occurred in Bengal, and the followingextract from Mr. Crawford’s address to the

EI R b


shareholders indicates the measures takenby the Government of India and the Railway Company to assist the people duringthat calamity

The Directors had placed the line at the disposal of theGovernment. TheRa ilway rate was fid per ton per mile,but theGovernment was sending the people provisions at amuch less carriage charge than that, and made up the

deficiency to the Company . Apart, however, from all

questions of profit, it was a source of sincere gratificationto the D irectors , that they were able to render substantialassistance to the Government, in su plying the populationof Ben al with food . Giving the overnment the assistance 0 all their locomotive plant, they were enabled todeliver tons of grain daily for the use of the people.

”

From the l st November 1873 to the 3rdSeptember 1874 , the quantity Of food grainscarried into the famine - stricken districts anddelivered at stations between Rajmahal andArrah

,was estimated at nearly sevenhundred

and fifty thousand tons. The traffic consistedchiefly Of rice from Howrah,

and of other

grain from the North-West Provinces,and

was consigned partly on Government and

partly on private account.

In order to convey and accommodate solarge an addition to the ordinary business ofthe Company, some thirty additional engineswere erected and brought into use ; forty- sixdrivers and firemen were sent out fromEn land, and ten were lent by the MadrasRai way wagons were hired from the Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway ;the staff of guards was largely augmented ;watchmenwere engaged to protect the grain



was a very large growth of grain and especially of wheat, a good deal of which found itsway down the river Indus to the sea atKurrachee. In a favourable season therewas an immense surplus to dispose Of and

efforts were made to draw this produce toCalcutta

,by quoting lower rates for its car

riage than had previously been thoughtof. These efforts proved in a lame measuresuccessful ; by introducing considerably re

duced grain rates, a valuable traffic wasdrawn to the line and a profitable businessestablished.

The only section of the Railway whichwas not doing so well as anticipated was theJubbulpore branch, its local traffic was poorand the tramo interchanged with the GreatIndian Peninsular Railway nominal . TheChairman said in his address in July 1 874,the Jubbulpore

' line must be consideredfor the present in the light of a politicalline, and it is very useful to travellers butas regards the trade and commerce of thecount the line has not done much. TheJubb pore branch runs for the most partthrough an uncultivated waste, oorly populated, and has always been the feast payingportion Of the Railway.

In 1873 some Bengal coal was taken byMadras for the use of the Madras Railway,and some was conveyed to Singapore for themanufacture Of gas, and some to Bombayfor cotton spinmng works. The quantity

THE CHORD ROUTE AND THE COAL TRAFFIC. 69

exported was small , but this was the first

recorded trade in export coal and at the time

qui te a new feature In the trafiic. While on

the subject of coal, it is well to s ay a few

words as to the result of opening the Chordline route. It will be remembered that one

of the reasons for constructing this routewas that it would have the effect of bringingthe Bengal coalfields nearer to the centre

Of the Company’s system. The policy of the

Board had Often been questioned on the scoreOf the initial expense , and on the groundsthat the Chord route ran through an unprofitable tract Of country, which its opponentsthought was adequate] served by the originalbranch line to the neegun e collieries .

In 1 87 5 Mr. Crawford in his ad ress to theshareholders dwelt on this subject he said

They might now look upon the policy involved in theconstruction of that line WIth the utmost satisfaction. I t

had placed at their command that ample and abundant

supply of fuel, which had enabled them to carry 011 theiraperations , without any fear whatever of being broughtnto difi culty for want of it.

”

Not only did the Chord line place at the

ervice of the Com any and of the public,

Ocluding foreign raifways, a vast quantity of

asily accessible coal , but in opening out new

mrces Of supply, it brought about, not onlyreduction in cost, but a better quality of fuelIan that obtainable from Raneegunge itself.During 1 87 5 considerable changes wereade in the personnel of the administrationCalcutta, Mr. Cecil Stephenson, Chief


Agent, died, and Mr. Sibley, who had beenChief Engineer for many years

,retired, and

seeing that all construction works of anymagnitude were at an end, it was thoughtunnecessary to retain the services of both anAgent and a Chief Engineer. Mr. BradfordLeslie , now Sir Bradford Leslie , who hadformerly been ChiefEngineer of the EasternBengal Railwa Company and bad afterwards been emplbyed in building the floatingroad bridge over the Hooghly

, was selectedto fill the dual appointment Of Agent and

Chief Engineer.Shortly after Mr. Cecil Stephenson’

s deatha tablet to his memory was placed on thewall of Howrah Station and a copy of the

inscription on it is here given

IN MEMORY OE

CECI L MACKINTOSH STEPHENSON .

AGENT OF THE

EAST INDIAN RA ILWAY COMPANY ,

WHO DIED AT SEA ON THE 2 IST NOVEMBER 1875 , AGED 56 .

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED

AS A MARK OP TI IEIR SINCERE ESTEEM AND RESPECT

BY MORE THAN P IVE THOUSAND OFFICERS AND MEN

OF THE EAST IND IAN RAILWAY(AND OTHERS DESIRI NG To JOIN) ,

WHO HAVE ALSO PLACED A SIM ILAR TABLETIN THE CALCUTTA CATHEDRAL,A ND INSTITUTED A SCHOLARSHIP

IN THE D IOCESAN SCHOOL AT NAI NI TALFOR SONS OF EAST INDIAN RAI LWAY

SERVANTS.

ANALYSIS or STATISTICS. 7 1

The following statement shows the netearnings Of the Company from 1870 to 187 5inclusive

The fi res combine the earnings Of themain Rug

“Jubbulpore lines, though at this

time the accounts were separately kept, andare interesting as shewing the effect of thefamine trams of 1 873 - 74. They also shew,

excluding the two exceptionally poor years,187 1 - 72 , when trade was more or less stagnant and everything depressed, that followingthe famine there was a distinct development .

In 187 1 we find for the first tIme an

analysis Of statistical figures much in theform in which they are given at the presenttime . The principle of these Statistics waslaid down by Sir Alexander Rendel ( thenMr. Rendel) in conjunction with ColonelStrachey, R.E.

,now Sir Richard S trachey ,

Chairman Of the Board, and will be referred

to ingreater detail elsewhere . It is sufficientto say here that according to the first analysisthe average load Of a goods train on themain line was 109 tons and on the Jubbulporebranch 6 8 tons. At the present time an

average load of under 27 5 tons is considered

CHAPTER VII .

VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES TO INDIAREDUCTIONS IN RATES— ECONOMIES IN WORK

ING.— THEMADRAS FAMINE AND SHORTAGE OF

STOCK— GENERAL STRACHEY VISITS INDIA.

THE GIRIDIH COLLIERIES— PROSPERITY OF

THE UNDERTAKING .

IN 187 5 - 187 6 His Royal Highness thePrince Of Wales visited India and greatreparations were made to afford him aItoyal welcome . That the efforts made toensure his comfort while travelling on theEast Indian Railway were successful

,is

proved by the following extract from theGazette of India ,

dated 22nd A pril 187 6On the East Indian Railway, His Royal Highness the

Prince Of Wales travelled in January 1876 from Howrahto Bankipore, and thence to Benares, also from Cawnporeto Delhi and from Delhi to Ghaziabad, on going to thePunjab , and from Ghaziabad to Agra in returning thence.

In February, His Royal Highness travelled from A ra to

A ligarh, and in March from Cawnpore to A llahaba andon to Jubbulpore.

The orders issued concerning the details of workin theRoyal train by the authorities of the East Indian Ra

'

waywere such as to ensure punctuality in running, combinedwith all poss ible precautions for safety .

On the conclusion Of the journey to Jubbulpore, HisRoyal Highness was pleased to acknowledge his thankspersonally to the Officiating Agent and Traffic Manager fortheir attention to him,

and to commend the rai lwayarrangements in connection with the several State ceremonial.ofarrival and departureof trains during thediflerentjourneys made upon the line by His Royal Highness.

”

MR. A . M. RENDEL VISITS INDIA AGAIN. 73

The visit of His R0 al Highness the

Prince of Wales results in a concourse ofNative Princes and others visiting Calcutta,

and led to a. considerable Increase in receiptsfrom passenger traffic

,but as a set off there

was a certain outgoing to be taken intoaccount under the head of carriage buildingand outward demonstrations ; a spe( ial tl ain

had to be constructed , as the P I ince ofWalescould not be sent about in an ordinarycarriage

,and stations had to be decorated in

token of loyalty ° all this cost money,but

the Chairman in analysing the financialresult to the Railway said : I dare say wemay put it down that ifHis Royal Highnesshad not gone to India we should have beenabout £40,000worse off than we are. Seeing that the s ecial train constructed for thePrince of ales, was used for the nexttwenty- five years as the Viceregal train

,this

result was by no means unsatisfactory .

About the same time Mr. A. M . Rendel

again visited India . The completion by theovernment of the brid e over the Hooghly,between Howrah and alcutta having ren

dered necessary considerable alterations atthe Howrah terminus, Mr . Rendel was deputed to investigate the re uirements of thecase on the spot Mr.

(

Rendel not onlydealt with the question of Howrah stationbut went over the whole line from one end

to the other and settled various details withthe Company

’s officers in India.

74 HISTORY or THE E. I . RA ILWAY.

Reference has been made in a reviouschapter to the effect of the Ben famineon the question Ofgoods rates. Mr.the Chairman of the Board of Directors,referred to this in his address to the Shareholders in January 187 7 he said

The experience of the famine traffic had shewn us thattherewas an enormous production Of the soil in India of avery valuable character, but which had been for the mostpart necessarily retained in the d istricts in which itwas grown, for the want of any other market than the

local markets of the neighbourhood .

”

This was in some measure true,but we

have seen already that a good deal of thesurplus production Of the soil found its wayto the seaboard by river

,and particularly by

the river Indus to Kurrachee. In 187 6 the

Government took Off the export dues,which

up till then had militated against a really

large export trade,and at a out the same

time silver began to decline in value. Thedepreciation of silver assisted the export Of

country produce and some encouragementin railway rates was alone needed to drawthe traffic to the Railway. Reductions wereaccordingly made, and as Mr. Crawford inanother part Of his address added“The effect Of the reduction Of the rates was to enable

purchasers of wheat at Cawnpore, 684 miles from Calcutta,to rely upon their being able to get their wheat down to

Calcutta for a sumnot exceeding about 69 . 4d . per quarter.

That taken into account with other elements of reducedcost has led to a very great and important increase in thetrade Of grain between India and this country . The samehas been the case with seeds. The duty Of the companywas to assist by reduction of charge in facil itating the


7 6 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY .

should never have arrived at a satisfactorynet result, ifour efforts on this Side to inculcateeconomy had not been most actively and

honestly su ported on the other Side . Hisremarks hadspecial reference to an outcryraised by the Indian newspapers of the day, asto the alleged injustice Of replacing Europeanby native labour. Mr. David Campbell, theLocomotive Superintendent

,had recently

promoted about 87 native firemen to appointments

,previously held by Europeans, as

shunters and drivers Ofgoods trains on branchlines

,with most satisfactory results. The

experiment carried out in the face of muchopposition led to a considerable economy and

naturally had the full support Of the Board.

Another economy introduced in 1 877 wasin connection with the maintenance of thetelegraph. The Railway had established aline of telegraph wire on one side of the line,and the Government had a line Of telegraphon the other side. This necessitated two

telegraphic establishments,and it was Oh

viously a waste Of money that one establishment should be employed in keeping in orderand repair the line on one side , while anotherestablishment should be engaged in lookingafter the wires on the other. An arrangement was therefore come to with the Government, under which they undertook the repairand maintenance of the railway wires, andthe Railway had no longer to keep up astaff of its own for the purpose .

WAGON SHORTAGE DURING MADRAB FAMINE.

A failure Of the rains Of 187 6 led to anotherfamine in India, this time in the Madras andBomba Presidencies. A strong demandfor food

7

ul ses and rice set in in

October 1 87 6 , an continued unabated almostthrou hout 187 7 . The reat bulk of the trafficflows over the East ndian Ra ilwa fromthe North -West Provinces and the Bun'

ah,

the largest proportion goin via‘

the Jubhul

P258 line and the Great ndian Peninsulailway,

but there was also a heavy trafficto Howrah, for transmission to Madrasby sea.

At the same time there was a large wheatand seed export trade, and consequently theusual sequence of a Shortage of wagonsupply. The pers in India teemed withexpressions O disapproval Of the EastIndian Railway management, because it hadnot sufficient stock to meet the extraordinarydemands made upon it. The facts were thatthe stock of wagons had amply sufficed tomeet the famine requirements Of 1 873 - 74,but when it came to sending East IndianRailway wagons hundreds of miles awayfrom the home line to distant Madras

,it

became impossible to meet all demands.Out of a total stock Of goods wagons

,as

many as or say one-fifthwere constantlyabsent from the line, conveying produce tothe Bombay or Madras Presidencies. Therewould have been an abundant supply of

wagons to carry our own traffic but there

68 HISTORY or THE E. I . RAI LWAY .

was a very large growth Of grain and especially Of wheat, a good deal Of which found itsway down the river Indus to the sea atKurrachee. In a favourable season therewas an immense surplus to dispose of and



riage than had previously been thoughtof. These efforts proved in a larg e measuresuccessful ; by introducing considerably re


The only section of the Railway whichwas not doing SO well as anticipated was theJubbulpore branch, its local traffic was poorand the traffic interchanged with the GreatIndian Peninsular Railway nominal . TheChairman said in his address in July 1874,the Jubbulpore line must be considered

for the present in the light of a politicalline

,and it is very useful to travellers but

as regards the trade and commerce Of thecount the line has not done much. TheJubb pore branch runs for the most partthrough an uncultivated waste, poorly populated, and has always been the least payIngportion of the Railway.

In 1873 some Bengal coal was taken byMadras for the use of the Madras Railway,and some was conveyed to Singapore for themanufacture of gas , and some to Bombayfor cotton spinmng works. The quantity

THE CHORD ROUTE AND THE COAL TRAERIO. 69

exported was small , but this was the firstrecorded trade in export coal and at the timequite a new feature In the traffic. While 011the subject of coal, it is well to say a fewwords as to the result of opening the Chordline route. It will be remembered that one

Of the reasons for constructing this routewas that it would have the effect of bringingthe Bengal coalfields nearer to the centreof the Company’s system. The polic Of theBoard had Often been questioned on t e scoreof the initial expense

, and on the groundthat the Chord route ran through an unprofitable tract Of country, which its opponentsthought was adequate] served by the originalbranch line to the neegun e collieries.In 1 87 5 Mr. Crawford in his address to theShareholders dwelt on this subject he saidThey might now look upon the policy involved in the

construction of that line WIth the utmost satisfaction. It

had laced at their command that ample and abundantsupp y of fuel, which had enabled them to carry on theiroperations , without any fear whatever Of being broughtinto difliculty for want Of it.

”

Not only did the Chord line place at theservice of the Com any and of the public

,

including foreign rai ways, a vast quantity Of

easily accessible coal, but in opening out newtources of supply, it brought about, not only1 reduction in cost, but a better quality Of fuelhan that obtainable from Raneegunge itself.During 1 87 5 considerable changes wereIade in the personnel Of the administration1 Calcutta, Mr. Cecil Stephenson, Chief

70 HISTORY OF THE E . I . RAI LWAY.


,retired, and

seeing that all construction works of anymagnitude were at an end, it was thoughtunnecessary to retain the services Of both anAgent and a Chief Engineer. Mr. BradfordLeslie

,now Sir Bradford Leslie

,who had

formerly been Chief Engineer of the EasternBengal Railwa Company and had afterwards been emplbyed in building the floatingroad bridge over the Hooghly

,was selected

to fill the dual appointment Of Agent and

Chief Engineer.Shortly after Mr. Cecil Stephenson’s deatha tablet to his memory was placed on thewall Of Howrah Station and a copy of the

inscription on it is here given

IN MEMORY OF

CECI L MACKINTOSH STEPHENSON .

AGENT OF THE

EAST INDIAN RAILWAY COMPANY ,

WHO DIED AT SEA ON THE 2 IST NOVEMBER 1875 , AGED 56 .


As A MARK OF THEIR SINCERE ESTEEM AND RESPECT

BY MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND OFFICERS AND MEN

OF THE EAST IND IAN RAILWAY(AND OTHERS DESIRING To JO IN) ,


IN THE D IOCESAN SCHOOL AT NAINI TALFOR SONS OF EAST INDIAN RAI LWAY

SERVANTS.

ANALYSIS OF STATISTICS.

The following statement shows the netearnings of the Company from 1870 to 187 5inclusive

The fi res combine the earnings Of themain an Jubbulpore lines , though at thistime the accounts were separately kept, andare interesting as shewing the effect of thefamine traffic of 1873 - 74 . They also shew,

excluding the two exceptionally poor years,187 1 - 72 , when trade was more or less stagnant and everything depressed, that followingthe famine there was a distinct development .

In 1 87 1 we find for the first time an

analysis of statistical figures much in theform in which they are given at the presenttime . The principle of these statistics waslaid down by Sir Alexander Rendel ( thenMr. Rendel) in conjunction with ColonelStrachey

, R.E.

, now Sir Richard S trachey ,Chairman of the Board

, and will be referredto ingreater detail elsewhere . It is sufficientto say here that according to the first analysisthe average load of a goods train on themain line was 109 tons and on the Jubbulporebranch 6 8 tons. At the present time an

average load Of under 27 5 tons is consideredpoor.

CHAPTER VII .

VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES To INDIAREDUCTIONS IN RATES— ECONOMIES IN WORK

ING.—THEMADRAS FAMINE AND SHORTAGE OF

STOCK— GENERAL STRACHEY V ISITS INDIA.

THE GIRID IH CoLLIERIEs— PROSPERITY OF

THE UNDERTAKING .

IN 187 5 - 187 6 His Royal Highness thePrince Of Wales visited India and greatreparations were made to afford him aRoyal welcome. That the efforts made toensure his comfort while travelling on theEast Indian Railway were successful

,is



Prince Of Wales travelled in January 1876 from Howrahto Bankipore, and thence to Benares, also from Cawnporeto Delhi and from Delhi to Ghaziabad, on going to thePunjab , and from Ghaziabad to Agra in returning thence.

In February,His Royal Highness travelled from A a to

A ligarh, and inMarch from Cawnpore to Allahaba and

on to Jubbulpore.

The orders issued concerning the details Of working theRoyal train by the authorities Of the East Indian Ra ilwaywere such as to ensure punctuality in running, combinedwith all poss ible precautions for safety .

On the conclusion of the journey to Jubbulpore, HisRoyal Highness was pleased to acknowledge his thankspersonally to the Officiating A ent and Traffic Manager fortheir attention to him

,an to commend the railway

arrangements in connection with the several State ceremonials of arrival and departureOf trains during thediflerentj ourneys made upon the line by His Royal Highness.

”


HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY.

Reference has been made in a reviouschapter to the effect of the Benga famineon the question ofgoods rates. Mr. Crawford ,the Chairman of the Board of Directors,referred to this in his address to the shareholders in January 187 7 he said

The experience of the famine trafiic had shewn us thatthere was an enormous production of the soil in India of avery valuable character, but which had been for themostpart necessarily retained in the districts in which itwas grown, for the want of any other market than the


”

This was in some measure true, but wehave seen already that a good deal of thesurplus production of the soil found its wayto the seaboard by river



Government took off the export dues, which


large export trade,and at 3. out the same

time silver began to decline in value . Thedepreciation of silver assisted the export of

country produce and some encouragementin railway rates was alone needed to drawthe traffic to the Railway. Reductions wereaccordingly made

,and as Mr. Crawford in

another part of his address addedThe efi

'

ect of the reduction of the rates was to enablepurchasers of wheat at Cawnpore, 684 miles from Calcutta,to rely upon their being able to get their wheat down to

Calcutta for a sum not exceeding about 60. 4d per quarter.

That taken into account with other elements of reduced

cost has led to a very great and important increase in thetrade of grain between India and this country . The samehas been the case with seeds. The duty of the companywas to assist by reduction of charge in facilitating the

oaow'rn or ran sxroa'

r wnsxr n uns . 75

removal of this largeproduceof grainand seeds and our rates

have enabled merchants to bring their wheat to England,together with their linseed and other seeds, at a cos t

which could not have beenpossible a very short time before.

”

I do not see a

xthing in the conditions in which this

trame has been carri on to deter me from expecting a

continuance of it .

”

At about the same time arrangementswere concluded with the line then known as

the Sindh,Punj ab and Delhi Railwa

y,

” bywhich purchasers of grain in the Punja wereable to bring their grain to Calcutta, a distance of miles

,at a cost ofabout 12s . 9d .

per quarter,a rate which was then considered

remarkably low. A S illustratinu the growth ofthe export wheat trade, the following figuresof exports from Calcutta are interesting

,

more than one-half being brought down bythe East Indian Railway

Years. Tons expm ted

1874

18 75

1876

The company was now enjoying a eriod

of activity , and prospéects were undon tedly

encouraging. The ailway was about 25

years 01 and past experience justified the feeling that it would continue to prove one of the

andest undertakings in the world’s history.

ut the success of the East Indian Railwaywas not entirely owing to themeasures takento develop traffic a large share of its

prosperity was due to the economical conditions under which the line was worked. Mr.Crawford at the same meeting said, we

7 6 s xsronv or ran a. 1. RAILWAY .

should never have arrived at a satisfactorynet result, ifour efforts on this side to inculcateeconomy had not been most actively and

honestly su ported on the other side . Hisremarks ha special reference to an outcryraised by the Indian newspapers of the day , asto the alleged injustice of replacing Europeanby native labour. Mr. David Campbell, theLocomotive Superintendent, had recentlypromoted about 87 native firemen to appointments

,previously held by Europeans, as

shunters and drivers of goods trains on branchlines



naturally had the full support of the Board.

Another economy introduced in 187 7 was

in connection with the maintenance of thetelegraph. The Railway had established aline of telegraph wire on one side of the line,and the Government had a line of telegraphon the other side. This necessitated two

telegraphic establishments,and it was ob

viously a waste of money that one establishment should be employed in keeping in orderand repair the line on one side , while anotherestablishment should be engaged in lookingafter the wires on the other. An arrangement was therefore come to with theGovernment, under which they undertook the repairand maintenance of the railway wires, andfi eRailway had no longer to keep up a

of its own for the purpose.


68 HISTORY or THE S . 1 . RAI LWAY .

was a very large growth of grain and especially of wheat, a good deal of which found itsway down the river Indus to the sea atKurrachee. In a favourable season therewas an immense surplus to dispose of and



riege than had previously been thoughtof. These efforts proved in a larg e measuresuccessful ; by introducing considerably re


The only section of the Railway whichwas not doing so well as anticipated was theJubbulpore branch, its local traffic was oorand the traffic interchanged with the G

li'eat

Indian Peninsular Railway nominal . TheChairman said in his address in July 1874,the Jubbulpore

' line must be consideredfor the present in the light of a politicalline, and it is very useful to travellers butas regards the trade and commerce of thecount the line has not done much. TheJubb pore branch runs for the most partthrough an uncultivated waste, poorly populated, and has always been the least paymgportion of the Railway.

In 1 873 some Bengal coal was taken byMadras for the use of the Madras Railway,and some was conveyed to Singapore for themanufacture of gas, and some to Bombayfor cotton spinmng works . The quantity

THE cnosn sou-

rs AND Ta lc COAL TRAFFIC. 69

exported was small , but this was the first

recorded trade in export coal and at the timequite a new feature m the traflic. While onthe subject of coal, it is well to say a fewwords as to the result of opening the Chordline route. It will be remembered that one

of the reasons for constructing this routewas that it would have the effect of bringingthe Bengal coalfields nearer to the centreof the Company’s system. The policy of the

Board had often been questioned on the scoreof the initial expense , and on the groundsthat the Chord route ran through anunprofitable tract of country, which its opponentsthought was adequate] served by the originalbranch line to the Itaneegun e collieries .

In 1 87 5 Mr. Crawford in his ad ress to theShareholders dwelt on this subject he saidThey might now look upon the policy involved in the

construction of that lineWi th the utmost Satisfaction. It

had placed at their command that ample and abundantsupply of fuel, which had enabled them to carry on theiroperations , without any fear whatever of being broughtinto difi culty for want of it.

”

Not only did the Chord line place at theservice of the Com ny and of the public

,

including foreign railitays, a vast quantity of

easily accessible coal, but in Opening out newuources of supply, it brought about, not onlyi reduction in cost, but a better quality of fuelhan that obtainable from Raneegunge itself.During 1 87 5 considerable changes were

lade in the personnel of the administration1 Calcutta,

Mr. Cecil Stephenson, Chief



,retired, and

seeing that all construction works of anymagnitude were at an end, it was thoughtunnecessary to retain the services of both anAgent and a Chief En ineer. Mr. BradfordLeslie , now Sir Brad ord Leslie, who hadformerly been Chief Engineer of the EasternBengal Railwa Company and had afterwards been empl

y

oyed in building the floatingroad bridge over the Hooghly

, was selectedto fill the dual appointment of Agent and

Chief Engineer.Shortly after Mr. Cecil Stephenson’s deatha tablet to his memory was placed on thewall of Howrah Station and a copy of theinscription on it is here given

IN MEMORY or

CECIL MACKINTOSH STEPHENSON .

AGENT or THE

EAST INDIAN RAILWAY COMPANY ,

WHO D I ED AT SEA ON THE 2 IST NOVEMBER 1875 , AGED 56.


AS A MARK or THEIR SI NCERE ESTEEM AND RESPECT

Br MORE THAN PIVE THOUSAND OFFICERS AND MEN

OF THE EAST IND IAN RA ILWAY(AND OTHERS DESIRING To JO IN) ,

WHO HAVE ALSO PLACED A SIMILAR TABLETIN THE CALCIITTA CATHEDRAL,AND INSTITUTED A SCHOLARSHIP

IN THE DIOCESAN SCHOOL AT NAINI TAL

FOR SONS OF EAST INDIAN RAI LWAYSERVANTS.


CHAPTER VII .

VISIT or THE PRINCE OF WALES To INDIAREDUCTIONS IN RATES— ECONOMIES IN WORK

ING.—THEMADRAS FAMINE AND SHORTAGE or

STOCK— GENERAL STRACHEY VISITS INDIA .

THE GIRIDIH CoLLIERIEs— PROSPERITY OF

THE UNDERTAKING.

IN 187 5 - 187 6 His Royal Highness thePrince of Wales visited India and greatreparations were made to afford him aRoyal welcome. That the efforts made toensure his comfort while travelling on theEast Indian Railway were successful

,is



Prince of Wales travelled in January 1876 from Howrahto Bankipore, and thence to Benares, also from Cawnporeto Delhi and from Delhi to Ghaziabad, on going to thePunjab , and from Ghaziabad to Agra in returning thence.

In February,His Royal Highness travelled from A ta to

A ligarh, and inMarch from Cawnpore to Allahaba andon to Jubbulpore.

The orders issued concerning the details of workin the

Royal train by the authorities of the East Indian Ra i waywere such as to ensure punctuality in running, combinedwith all poss ible precautions for safety .

On the conclusion of the journey to Jubbulpore, HisRoyal Highness was pleased to acknowledge his thankspersonally to the Officiating A ent and Traffic Manager fortheir attention to him

,an to commend the railway

arrangements in connection with the several State ceremonials of arrival and departure of trains during thedifl

'

erent

j ourneys made upon the line by His Royal Highness.

”

MR. A. l l . RENDEL VISITS INDIA AGAIN.

The visit of His Royal Highnes s the

Prince of Wales resulted in a concourse ofNative Princes and others vis iting Calcutta,

and led to a considerable increase in WI eipts

from passenger traffic , but as a set off therewas a certain outgoing to be taken intoaccount under the head of carI iage buildingand outward demonstrations ; a speI .ial tI ain

had to be constructed , as the Prince ofWalescould not be sent about in .In ordinaIycarriage

,and stations had to be decorated in

token of loyalty all this cost money, butthe Chairman in analysing the financialresult to the Railway said : I dare Say we

may put it down that ifHis Royal Highnesshad not gone to India we should have beenabout £40,000worse off than we are.

”See

ing that the s ecial train constructed for thePrince of ales

,was used for the next

twenty - five years as the Viceregal train,this

result was by no means unsatisfactory .

About the same time Mr. A . M . Rendel

gin visited India. The completion by thevernment of the bridge over the Hooghly,

between Howrah and Calcutta having ren

dered necessary considerable alterations atthe Howrah terminus, Mr . Rendel “as deputed to investigate the requirements of thecase on the spot Mr. Rendel not onlydealt with the question of Howrah stationbut went over the Whole line from one end

to the other and settled various details withthe Company

’s officers in India.


Reference has been made in a reviouschapter to the effect of the Benga famineon the question ofgoods rates. Mr. Crawford ,the Chairman of the Board of Directors,referred to this in his address to the shareholders in January 187 7 he said

The experience of the famine traffic had shewn us thatthere was an enormous production of the soil in India of avery valuable character, but which had been for the mostpart necessarily retained in the districts in which it

was grown, for the want of any other market than the

local markets of the neighbourhood.

”




Government took off the export dues, which


large export trade,and at a out the same

time silver began to decline in value. Thedepreciation of silver assisted the export of

country produce and some encouragementin railway rates was alone needed to drawthe traffic to the Railway. Reductions wereaccordingly made, and as Mr. Crawford inanother part of his address added

The efl'

ect of the reduction of the rates was to enablepurchasers of wheat at Cawnpore, 684 miles from Calcutta,to rely upon their being able to get their wheat down to

Calcutta for a sum not exceeding about 60. 4d . per quarter.

That taken into account with other elements of reducedcost has led to a very great and important increase in thetrade of grain between India and this country . The samehas been the case with seeds. The duty of the companywas to assist by reduction of charge in facilitating the




honestly su ported on the other side . Hisremarks hadspecial reference to an outcryraised by the Indian newspapers of the day , asto the alleged injustice of replacing Europeanby native labour. Mr. David Campbell , theLocomotive Superintendent, had recentlypromoted about 87 native firemen to appointments, previously held by Europeans, asshunters and drivers of goods trains on branchlines




Another economy introduced in 187 7 was

in connection with the maintenance of thetelegraph. The Railway had established aline of telegraph wire on one side of the line

,

and the Government had a line of telegraphon the other side. This necessitated two

telegraphic establishments, and it was ob

viously a waste of money that one establishment should be employed in keeping in orderand repair the line on one side , while anotherestablishment Should be engaged in lookingafter the wires on the other. An arrangement was therefore come to with the Government, under which they undertook the repairand maintenance of the railway wires, andthe Railway had no longer to keep up astaff of its own for the purpose.

WAGON SHORTAGE DURING MADRAS PAN INE. 7 7

A failure of the rains of 187 6 led to anotherfamine in India, this time in the Ma dras and

Bomba Presidencies. A strong IleInanIl

for fOOITgrains, ulses and rice set in in

October 1 87 6 , an continued unabated almostthrou hout 187 7 . The eat bulk of the trafficflowe over the East ndian Railway fromthe North -West Provinces and the Punjab,

the largest proportion goin r id the Jubbulpore line and the Great Indian PeninsulaRailway, but there was also a heavy trafficto Howrah, for transmission to Madrasby sea.

At the same time there was a large wheatand seed export trade, and consequently theusual sequence of a shortage of wagonsupply . The pers in India teemed withexpressions o disapproval of the EastIndian Railway management, because it hadnot sufficient stock to meet the extraordinarydemands made upon it. The facts were thatthe stock of wagons had amply sufficed to

meet the famine requirements of 1 873 - 74,but when it came to sending East IndianRailway wagons hundreds of miles awayfrom the home line to distant Madras

,it

became impossible to meet all demands.Out of a total stock of goods wagons

,as

many as or say one-fifthwere constantlyabsent from the line, conveying produce tothe Bombay or Madras PresidencIes . Therewould have been an abundant supply of

wagons to carry our own traffic but there

68 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAI LWAY .

was a very large growth of grain and especially of wheat, a good deal of which found itsway down the river Indus to the sea atKurrachee. In a favourable season therewas an immense surplus to dispose of and



riage than had previously been thoughtof. These efforts proved in a lar e measuresuccessful ; by introducing consigerably re


The only section of the Railway whichwas not doing so well as anticipated was theJubbulpore branch, its local traffic was poorand the traffic interchanged with the GreatIndian Peninsular Railway nominal . TheChairman said in his address in July 1 874,the Jubbulpore

' line must be consideredfor the present in the light of a politicalline

,and it is very useful to travellers but

as regards the trade and commerce of thecountry

,the line has not done much. The

Jubbulpore branch runs for the most partthrough an uncultivated waste, poorly populated, and has always been the least paymgportion of the Railway.

In 1 873 some Bengal coal was taken byMadras for the use of the Madras Railway,and some was conveyed to Singapore for themanufacture of gas , and some to Bombayfor cotton spinmng works. The quantity


70 HISTORY OF THE E . I . RAILWAY.


,retired, and

seeing that all construction works of anymagnitude were at an end, it was thoughtunnecessary to retain the services of both anAgent and a Chief En ineer. Mr. BradfordLeslie

, now Sir Brad ord Leslie , who hadformerly been Chief Engineer of the EasternBengal Railwa Company and had afterwards been emplbyed in building the floatingroad bridge over the Hooghly

, was selectedto fill the dual appointment of Agent and

Chief Engineer.Shortly after Mr. Cecil Stephenson’s deatha tablet to his memory was placed on thewall of Howrah Station and a copy of the

inscription on it is here givenI N MEMORY OF

CECIL MACKINTOSH STEPHENSON .

AGENT OF THE

EAST INDI AN RAILWAY COMPANY ,

WHO DI ED AT SEA ON THE 218T NOVEMBER 1875 , AGED 56 .


As A MARK OF THEIR SINCERE ESTEEM AND RESPECT

BF MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND OFFICERS AND MEN

OF THE EAST I ND IAN RAILWAY(AND OTHERS DESIRI NG To JOIN),


IN THE D IOCESAN SCHOOL AT NA INI TALFOR SONS OF EAST INDIAN RAI LWAY

SERVANTS.

ANALYSIS OF STATI STICS. 7 1

The following statement shows the netearnings of the Company from 1870 to 187 5inclusive :

The fi ures combine the earnings of themain angJubbulpore lines

,though at this

time the accounts were separately kept, andare interesting as shewing the effect of thefamine traffic of 1873 - 74. They also shew,

excluding the two exceptionally poor years,187 1 - 72 , when trade was more or less stagnant and everything depressed, that followingthe famine there was a distinct development .In 187 1 we find for the first tIme an

analysis of statistical figures much in theform in which they are given at the presenttime. The principle of these statistIcs was

laid down by Sir Al exander Rendel ( thenMr. Rendel) in conjunction with ColonelStrachey

, E .E.

, now Sir Richard S trachey,Chairman of the Board, and will be referredto ingreater detail elsewhere . It is sufficientto say here that according to the first analysisthe average load of a goods train on the

main line was 109 tons and on the Jubbulporebranch 6 8 tons. At the present time an

average load of under 27 5 tons is considered

42

17 0

I 5

0 1 1

8 2

1 5

6 3

CHAPTER VII .

VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES To INDIAREDUCTIONS IN RATES— ECONOMIES IN WORK

ING.— THEMADRAS FAMINE AND SHORTAGE OF

STOCK— GENERAL STRACHEY V ISITS INDIA .

THE GIRIDIH CoLLIERIEs— PROSPERITY OF

THE UNDERTAKING.

IN 1 87 5 - 187 6 His Royal Highness thePrince of Wales visited India and greatreparations were made to afford him aRoyal welcome. That the efforts made toensure his comfort while travelling on the

East Indian Railway were successful,is


dated 22nd A pril 187 6“On the East Indian Railway, His Royal Highness the

Prince of Wales travelled in January 1876 from Howrahto Bankipore, and thence to Benares, also from Cawnporeto Delhi and from Delhi to Ghaziabad, on going to thePunjab , and from Ghaziabad to Agra in returning thence.

In February, His Royal Highness travelled from A

gra to

A ligarh, and in March from Cawnpore to A llahaba and

on to Jubbulpore.

The orders issued concerning the details of working theRoyal train by the authorities of the East Indian Railwaywere such as to ensure punctuality in running, combinedwith all possible precautions for safety.

On the conclusion of the journey to Jubbulpore, HisRoyal Highness was pleased to acknowledge his thankspersonally to the O fficiating A ent and Traffic Manager fortheir attention to him

,an to commend the rai lway

arrangements in connection with the several State cere

monials of arrival and departureof trains during thed ifferentj ourneys made upon the line by His Royal Highness.

”


74 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RA ILWAY.

Reference has been made in a reviouschapter to the effect of the Benga famineon the question ofgoods rates . Mr. Crawford ,the Chairman of the Board of Directors,referred to this in his address to the shareholders in January 1 87 7 he said

The experience of the famine traffic had shewn us thattherewas an enormous production of the soil in India of avery valuable character, but which had been for themostpart necessarily retained in the d istricts in which it

was grown, for the want of any other market than the


”



the river Indus to Kurrachee . In 1876 the

Government took off the export dues,which

up till then had militated a ainst a reallylarge export trade, and at afiout the sametime silver began to decline in value. Thedepreciation of silver assisted the export of

country produce and some encouragementin railway rates was alone needed to drawthe traffic to the Railway. Reductions wereaccordingly made

,and as Mr. Crawford in

another part of his address addedThe effect of the reduction of the rates was to enable

purchasers of wheat at Cawnpore, 684 miles from Calcutta,to rely upon their being able to get their wheat down to

Calcutta for a sum not exceeding about 68 . 4d . per quarter.

That taken into account with other elements of reduced

cost has led to a very great and important increase in thetrade of grain between India and this country . The samehas been the case with seeds. The duty of the companywas to assist by reduction of charge in facilitating the

GROWTH OF THE ExPORT WHEAT TRADE. 75

removal of this largeproduceof grainand seeds and our rates

have enabled merchants to bring their wheat to England,together with their linseed and other seeds, at a costwhich could not have beenpossible a very short time before.

”

I do not see anything in the conditions In which thistrame has been carried on to deter me from expecting a

continuance of it .

”

At about the same time arrangementswere concluded with the line then known as

the Sindh,Punjab and Delhi Railwa ,

” bywhich purchasers of grain in the Punja wereable to bring their grain to Calcutta, a distance of 1 ,245 miles, at a cost ofabout 128 . 9d .

per quarter,a rate which was then considered

remarkably low. As illustratin the growth ofthe export wheat trade, the fo lowing figuresof exports from Calcutta are interesting,more than one-half being brought down bythe East Indian Railway

Years . Tons exported1874

1875

1876 170,240

The company was now enjoying a perIodof activity

,and prospects were undoubtedly

encouraging. The Railway was about 25

years 01 and past experience justified the feeling that it would continue to prove one of theandest undertakings In the world’ss history.

ut the success of the East Indian Railwaywas not entirely owing to the measures takento develop traffi c a large share of its

prosperity was due to the economical conditions under which the line was worked. Mr.Crawford at the same meeting said

, we



honestly su ported on the other side . Hisremarks hadspecial reference to an outcryraised by the Indian newspapers of the day , asto the alleged injustice of replacing Europeanby native labour. Mr. David Campbell , theLocomotive Superintendent, had recentlypromoted about 87 native firemen to appointments, previously held by Europeans, asshunters and drivers of goods trains on branchlines, with most satisfactory results. Theexperiment carried out in the face of muchopposition led to a considerable economy and


Another economy introduced in 1 877 wasin connection with the maintenance of thetelegraph. The Railway had established aline of telegraph wire on one side of the line,and the Government had a line of telegraphon the other Side . This necessitated two

telegraphic establishments , and it was ob

viously a waste of money that one establishment should be employed in keeping in orderand repair the line on one side , while anotherestablishment should be engaged in lookingafter the wires on the other. An arrangement was therefore come to with the Government, under which they undertook the repairand maintenance of the railway wires, andthe Railway had no longer to keep up astaff of its own for the purpose .



were not suflicient to carry rain to Madrasas well as to Calcutta, and oiviously it wasbeyond the bounds of possibility to meet thisexceptional demand. The Board however atonce applied for Government sanction to theprovision of more wagons and 50 additional engines, at a cost of a quarter of amillion of money, and sanction was accordedafter some short delay.

Towards the close of 187 7 and at thebeginning of 187 8 shareholders were beginning to enquire what action the Government intended to take in respect to thepurchase of the Railway. Mr. Crawford,although he could then make no offi cialannouncement, had already taken up thequestion and was in communication withthe Government as to its intentions . Theposition was that on the 15th February 1 87 9 ,and for Six months afterwards, the Government had the power of giving notice to theCompany of its intention to purchase theproperty, such intention to take effect onthe expiration of six months’ notice . Theterms of purchase were the average marketvalue of the stock of the Company for threeyears precedinge

the date on which suchnotice should given. There was muchconjecture as to the course the Governmentwould follow,

and when it was announced,early in 187 8, that Lieut. -Genl. Strachey,R. E. ,

a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India, had proceeded to

VI SIT OF GENL. STRAUHEY AND MR. RENDEL . 79

Calcutta to consider, with the Governmentand Railway authorities on the spot, certainpropositions for the completion of theCompany

’s system, it was not unnatural toassocIate his visit with the question of

Government purchase of the Railway.

The Board thou ht it desirable that Mr.A. M. Rendel, the CinsultingEngineer to theCompany, should also proceed to India andtake part in the enquIries to be made byGeneral Strachey, as, setting aside thequestion of purchase, there were manyimportant matters requirin decision. Therapidity with which traffic ad devel

gped in

recent years rendered it essential to ecide,without delay, what further facilities shouldbe provided. In other words it had becomevery necessary that accurate informationshould be obtained as to the works needed toenable the Railway to meet the developmentoftraffic . Among these works were the carry

the line over the river Hooghly by aat a convenient point above Calcutta

,

a then being to construct a passengerstation in the Metropolis and so leave thewhole of the Howrah property for the wheat,seeds and coal trade. Then again,

there werethe questions of extending the double line andof bridging the Ganges at or near Benares,so as to make a better connection with theOudh and Rohilkhand Railway These werebig questions and there were many othersof mmor importance.


It is not necessary here to refer in anydetail to this visit of Gen]. Strachey and

Mr. Rendel to India. Genl . Strachey’

s visitwas undoubtedly in connection with the

question ofGovernment takin over the EastIndian Railway, and this wi be more fullydealt with in another chapter. Mr. Rendelas usual submitted a very full report as soonas he returned

,dealing with the engineering

questions above referred to, but no proposalswere made by the Board to the Governmentto enter upon the works recommended byhim

,because the intentions of Government

in re ard to the purchase of the line werenot own until some time afterwards.Suffi ce to say here that in 1 87 9 a Bill waspresented inParliament to enable the Secretary of State in Council to enter intocontracts for the purchase of the undertakingof the East Indian Railway Company and forother purposes in relation to such Company.

”

This Bill received the Royal assent on thel 1th August 1 87 9 , and under its provisions acontract, to continue in force for a period of

not less than 20 years from the l st January1 880, was entered into , embodying the con

ditions onwhich the undertaking was continued in the hands of the Com any.

Before giving any detai s of the growthof traffi c during the period immediatelypreceding the purchase of the Railway bythe State, there are one or two incidents torecord. In 1878 the Company lost, through



enlarged and made available to commerce .The seed traflic was also owin in importance, butmore important t an eit er of thesetwo was the, as yet, almost undeveloped coaltrafi c. It is true that it had already reachedsome magnitude

,and was gradually growing,

but this was chiefly due to the requIrements

of railways, which had to take coal, and notto the creation of an export trade, whichfollowed years afterwards when a more suitable tariff was introduced. In 1876 therewas very little demand for local coal for seagoing steamers, and the chief considerationof the time seems to have been moderatelycheap fuel for railway consum tion.

The quantity of coal carrie for the publicduring the three years ending 187 6 was

Tons

Now in connection with the coal traffic of

these days it must be remembered that theEast Indian Railway collieries supplied 8

large portion of the public demand. TheGiridih coalfield was discovered in the earlyears of the history of the Eas t Indian Rail

ifway, and, thanks to the intelli ence and foresight of Mr. (afterwards S

gir) Macdonald

Stephenson, the East Indian Railway Company acquired control over it. At one timethere was a shar controversy between theGovernment an the Company as to the useof this coal-field. The Government said

EAST INDIAN RAILWAY COAL PROPERTY. 83

they could not allow guaranteed capital tobe used In working a coal mine, and In fact

gageorders that the mines were to be closed.

at followed is best described in Mr.Crawford’S words : “We on our partwere notprepared to submit to this, and as the Government would not alter their determinationwebrought outwhatwas called ‘The AuxiliaryRailway Company,

’ by which we proposed tomake the Chord line, and to develop theGiridih property. A letter was written toSir Charles Wood, in which we pointed outto him,

from what I may call the commercial

aspect of the case, how absolutely necessaryit was that we Should take the course weproposed to take. We told him the greatadvantages that In our jud ment would arisefrom it. Sir CharlesW

loocf ave way,

autho

rity was given to make theChord line, to getaccess to these mines, and you see the result.We get our coal at 78 . 5d . a ton.

”

It was not, however, the East IndianRailway that alone benefited by the cheapcoal made available by the construction of

the Chord line. The East Indian Railwaydid not require for themselves all the coalthat was raised from their mines, and was

able to place at the disposal of Governmentand of other railways connecting with them,

the whole of their surplus raisings, for whiclicost price was charged in addition to railway freight. There were, however, othercoal -owners in India besides the Railway

84 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAI LWAY.

Com and these ople took exce tionto th

Ida

Iil

dy

urse pursuedge

the CompanyPand,

in the words of Mr. rawford, threatenedall manner of things.

” They talk,

”he

said, of getting an interdict from the

Government. In fact they threaten legalproceedings but they are not aware of this,that we are entitled under our constitutionto work and to Win and to make profit out

of coal and minerals. It was one of thosethings for which we are indebted to theforesight of our colleague, Sir MacdonaldStephenson, who after thirty years

’ connection with us, is still happily with us. He

foresaw the advantages that would arise fromthis ; therefore in the deed of contract we

have the power to do these thin s, and that

deed has been approved by Government ;there is therefore no doubt as to our legalauthority to deal ifwe choose in coal. HOW

we came to possess the coal was in this way.

We were engaged some twenty-five yearsago in constructing our line along the Ganges, where a large quantity of brlckwork wasto be done. Our people were at their wits ’

end for fuel wherewith to burn the bricks.As the Americans say, they prospected thecountry, and it resulted in finding coal.When found, Sir Macdonald Stephensontook measures Immediately to acquire con

trol over the coal. That was Obtained and

we have now legal control over the coal pits.There are other coal deposits, and other



fortunate in possessing a goose which laidevery day a golden egg You knowwhat thecountryman did with the goose. We, theEast IndianRailway Co. , are the goose the

golden egg is the which the

ecretary of State will get out of thisRailway for the year 187 7 ; but whetherLord Salisbury will be the countryman or not remains for the future to

discover.Let us look for a moment at the goose as

described by Mr. Crawford in a previousspeech. It shews how the Railway was

then regarded and what ex ectations wereheld for its future. He sai with regardto the undertaking itself, you will bear inmind that there is perhaps no railway enterprise upon the face of this earth

,traversing

so great a distance, that is more favourablyplaced than ours is. We have little or nothin to contend with in the way of unfavourab e gradients ; we have a plain and levelcountry to pass through. We have a river,it is true to compete with, but which I thinkwill be found in the long run will be less of

a competitor than a coadjutor with us. Weserve a country densely peopled— a peo 18living in a state of tranqullity, who are a 18to devote themselves to the exercise of allthe arts of life, whatever they may be, whichthey pursue, whether agriculture or manufactures or whatever else and we have arrivedat that time now when the cultivators of

MR. CRAWFORD DESCRIBES THE E. I . R. 87

the soil in India, and the traders into whosehands the produce of the cultivators passes,have found that the supply of every article,wherever produced along the East Indianline, exceedin the local consumption, iscarried to mar et by rail. A man can enterupon the cultivation of land with confidencethat his produce, if in excess of that requiredfor the sup ly of the immediate neighbourhood

,will nd a market elsewhere . Al l this

arises in a great measure from the fact thatthe produce there raised is of a kind readilytaken b other people than the people ofIndia. There are acres upon acres, districtsof land in India, which are now coveredwith wheat cultivation. There are largeareas in the lower

,independently of the

Upper Provinces of India, where the cultivation of oil seeds

,linseed and rape seeds,

and other things of that kind is carriedon to a vast extent. There is nothingwhatever in the ordinary circumstances of

India which can prevent our enjoyin tothe full extent the full benefit as rai waycarriers.During the period we are now dealing

with the growth of the passenger traffic and

the measures advisable to encourage it werealso being considered. The increase in thepassenger traffic was thou ht not so greatas it might have been an the question of

reducing the third class fare was a sub'

ect

to which considerationwas being given. lVIr.


Crawford in his address to the shareholdersIn 1878 saId

I do not know whether our rates are higher than tb

s?ought to be. but to carry a ssenger eight miles forcannot inflict a very great bur enupon him. The Southernof India Railway. I am told, however, carry passengers attwo-thirds of our rates and their trafiic is increasing. Ifthat be the case it certainly behoves us to see how far theprinciple of lower fares can be applied with success uponour system. It is not to be forgotten that it is a dangerousquestion to meddle with

, and we had better be cautious inwhat we do.

”

What was done a few years later is relatedelsewhere, in the meantime we need onlymention that the Railway was carrying oversix million passen ers annually in 187 5 and

that, in 187 9 , the figures had one up to morethan seven and one half mil ions , of whomnearly seven millions were of the third class.The working ex enses were still decreasing,

in the second ha f of 1879 the percentageto gross receipts for the main line was downto 3 1 8 6 and in whatever way regarded thegeneral outlook was most favourable.


90 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RAI LWAY.

The Board of the East Indian Railwayheld that the Calcutta trade should be giventhe full advantage of the economical conditions under which their line was worked ;they argued in fact that the East IndianRailway Should have the power of carryinggoods at cheaper rates than other railways.The managements of the Bombay Baroda

and Rajputana State Railways declined toacce t this view,

and undeterred by thedisa vantage of break of gauge

,at once

began active competitionby reducing charges,in order to draw to Bombay by their route, alarge portion of the traffic which had re

viously been carried by the East In an

Railway, from Agra and Delhi, to Calcutta.

The Great Indian Peninsular Ra ilway,which had previously only secured a smallortion of the traffic of the North -West andunjab to Bombay by the Jubbulpore route,found themselves seriously handicapped and

proposed to construct an extension of theirine to Cawnpore

,which would shorten the

distance by their route,both from Cawn ore

and above . This roposal was accepte bythe Secretary of tate and thus a furthercomplicationwas introduced, though it is truethat it was not until some years later thatthe connection was actually made by the

Indian Midland Railway, since amalgamatedwith the Great Indian Peninsular.The Government of India wrote a despatch on the question in which the general

GOVERNMENT OF IND IA VIEWS. 91

princi ls was laid down that railway ratesshoul be fixed at the lowest limit

possible

to secure a fair profit on working. Thisprinciple was very much in accord with thev1ews of the East Indian Railway Board,who now looked upon the competition withless alarm, for they knew they could make a

fair profit out of far lower rates than otherrailways and therefore had the whip hand.

Let us,however

,extractmore fully from

the Government despatch, which is dated19th May 1882 .

The Government of India has certainly no wish to

favour either the port of Calcutta or that of Bombay inthis matter. Both ports have their respective advantagesand disadvantages as regards the export of country produce.

Bombay has a magnificent harbour and a convenient dock,combined with lower freight charges to Europe ; but asregards inland transport it has the disadvantage of costlyfuel and hilly country . Calcutta 011 the other hand hasa somewhat dangerous river for its approach, no docks and

heavier freight charges to Europe but in respect of inlandtransport it has great advantages, not only from the abundant supply of cheap coal but also from its river transport.

The competition of the river compels low charges on therailways , while the cheap coal enables these low charges to

be remunerative ; and it appears to His Excellency theGovernor-General in Council that if the Government ruledthat the rates from Delhi and Agra to Bombay and Calcuttawere to be the same, such ruling would be distinctly favouring Bombay at the expense of Calcutta, and placing an

artificial restriction on the East Indian Railwa traffic,thereby depriving the districts served by it of t e natu

ral advantages of their position.

”

At this time the rates fromAgra and Delhito Calcutta and Bombay were considerably infavour of Calcutta

,and the Government of

India in this despatch merely reiterated the

9 2 HISTORY or THE E. I . RAILWAY.

theory they had promulgated in a previousletter to the Government of Bombay, to theeffect that the ultimate limit of legitimatecompetition between the various lines mustbe regulated by their capabilities of makingan equally fair profit from the traffic theycarry.

”

A long controversy ensued in which theChambers of Commerce in Calcutta and

Bombay joined, while the Secretary of Stateexpressed an opinion quite Opposed to thatheld by the Government of India. He wasin favour of leaving the rival railway lines tocompete for the trade by quoting whateverrates they found desirable, subject to theinter Osition ofGovernment in extreme cases

,

and aid down that the advantages dueeither to geographical position or othercircumstances, should furnish no reason forimposing on either artificial restrictions

,in

order to produce an equal return of net profitson the capital of both.

”

These very Opposite views in no waybrought the controversy to a close. Itcontinued for years before even a temporarysolution was come to, but ultimately theGovernment of India, in 1887 , accepted in alarge meas ure the principles laid down by theSecretary of State that the managers of

railways should be left to fix their own ratesand fares, that the interests of railways andtrade generally would be better served byaccepting the legitimate consequences of


94 HISTORY OF THE E I . RAILWAY.

s tarted active competition with the EastIndian Railway for the trade of the NorthWest, and when the Great Indian PeninsularRailwaywas still endeavouring to gain accessto Cawnpore,Mr. Crawford issued an interesting brochure entitled Some Observationson the Development of the Ra ilway Systemof the Valley of the Ganges.In this sketch Mr. Crawford consideredthe general effect of the accomplishment of

certain rojects likely to affect the workingof the ast Indian Railway.

He referred firstly to the approachingcompletion of the Hooghly bridge, connecting the railways on either side of Calcuttathen to the bridge crossin the Ganges riverat Benares and the pro able acquirementby the Government of the Oudh and Rohilkand Railway then to the development ofthe Bengal and North-Western RailwaySystem,

serving,with the Tirhoot State

line, the im ortant provinces north of theGanges, and astly to the competitionbetweenBombay, Kurrachee and Calcutta.

It is only with the last portion of thepamphlet that we are here interested, and

more particularly with the competitionbetween Bombay and Calcutta.

This competition,he remarked, was

unknown, in point of fact it was not possible,before the meeting of the East Indian and

Great Indian Peninsular lines of Railway atJubbulpore in the year 186 9 , and it has been

MR. CRAWFORD’

S VIEWS. 95

effective only Since the completion of theRajputana -Malwa (narrow gauge lines) and

their incorporation with the Bombay -Barodaline in 188 1 , thus affording Bombay acontinuous unbroken communication withpoints of contact WIth the East Indian lineat Agra and at Delhi The basis upon whichthis competition is, as regards Bombay , thegreat superiority the port possesses over theport of Calcutta, owin mainly to naturalcauses— the extent and epth of the water of

its harbour, its facility of access and immunityfrom cyclones and, more than all, its position,

confronting, on theWestern coast‘

of India,

the entrance to the Red Sea, and the communications with every part of Europe .

Add to these the moderate port charges andthere appears to be some reason why thereshould be a reputed difference of 108 . perton in favour of Bombay

,between the

freights from Bombay and those fromCalcutta

,and just as much, say 108 . per ton

in the relative costs of the trans ort of goodsbetween the marts in upper India and theirdestination in Europe.”

I f by the gifts of nature Bombay is solargely superior to Calcutta as a shipping

port, there is a set off of no Slight importanceIn the fact that the approach to , and departurefromBombay, are subject to the drawback ofthe Western Ghats in both the lines of theGreat IndianPeninsular Railway leading intothe interior of the country, and the flooding of


the rivers, notably the Ta tee andNurbudda,

which cross the path 0 the Bombay and

BarodaRa ilway , in its northward course to itsjunction with the Rajputana-Malwa line atSabarmati. Added to this , coal is not to befound economically suitable for the purposesof locomotion at any point on either of theselines. The consequence is that both of thesedepend upon the imported coal into Bombayfor the supply of their requirements, at a

cost as follows compared with the EastIndian Ra ilway Company thus the

Half year endedsoth June 1885 .

East Indian Railway used TonsGreat Indian PeninsularBombay and Baroda

CostingEast Indian Railwayper ton at US per rupee 73 . l l

Great Indian Peninsularper ton at US per rupee £1 59 . 9§d .

Bombay and Baroda Rs

per ton at per rupee £1 12s . l oid .

This statement showed that, in the one itemof coal , the East Indian possessed an enormous and indis ntable advantage over theBombay lines, ut if it was a fact thatBombay possessed a superiority in homewardfreights it still remained necessary for theEast Indian, by the observance of everypractical economy in management, and byaffording every possible facilIty to the public,to take all the advantage it could of its



India are worked have been formulated in the Summaryof the Analysis of Working of Indian Railways, and

showAverage cost of hauling a goods unit (one ton) onemileEast Indian RailwayGreat Indian PeninsularBombay and BarodaRajputana Railway

This great difference in favour of theEast Indian Railway was, inMr. Crawford

’sOpinion, sufficient to transfer the centraleconomical working meeting point on theIndian Midland line, 356 miles to the westward of Cawnpore.”

In the competition with the united Bombay

,Baroda and Rajputana Railways the

case was somewhat different the distancefrom Calcutta to Agra being 84 1 miles and

from Bombay to Agra 847 miles , the midway house is 35 miles to the west of Agra

,

or say at Agra itself, but according toMr. Crawford’s calculations the economicalworking midway point would be 307 mileswestward of Agra.

These arguments, which are perfectlysound, apply with equal force to the presenttime . Beyond laying down maximum and

minimum rates , the Government has , asalready indicated, in no way interfered withcompetition between the different railways inIndia, the minimum rates are the same forall and, as a consequence, the Bombay linesCharge fromAgra to Bombay the same as theEast Indian charges from Agra to Calcutta

MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM RATES. 99

whi le from Cawnpore the Great IndianPeninsular and the East Indian have beenknown,

during active competition, to bothcharge the minimum allowed them for themore important items of traffic, or in otherwords to maintain equal mileage rates irres

pective of the cost of working . Therefore upto the present time the East Indian Railwayhas not been allowed to get any advantagefrom the more economical conditions underwhich it is worked. Such an arrangement isnot only contrary to the spirit of commercialenterprise, but is distinctly unfair to the EastIndianRailway. It is very doubtful whethertheminimum rates can pay in the case of railways which are not so cheaply worked, and itwould be interesting to hear what argumentsthere are to the contrary. I t may also beremarked here that to protect the public byprescribing maximum rates

,above which no

railway may charge, is understandable , butthat rates should be governed by minimabelow which no railway may go, is an econo

mic absurdity. Minimum rates were no

doubt brought about by the system of Government guaranwes , and the fear that, without some such restriction, certain railwayswould charge lower rates than were profitable to them,

but this is no defence whenit limits the powers of a railway, in aposition to charge less than the prescribedminimum

,and yet derive a fair margin of

profit.


This question of competition will be referred to in other phases elsewhere it issuflicient to say here that Mr. W. A. Dring

,

the present General Traffic Manager of theEast Indian Railway, has in a recent noteon slow freight rates re - opened the questionof a varying minima and it is on this that weare now awaiting the decision ofGovernment.Mr Dring says

The present mInimum charge of ° 23d per ton mileis acting as a restraint on the operations of the manaments to which Government has entrusted the workmgof its railways, and it seems probable that in the earlyfuture Government may consider whether the minimumcan be reduced . Therewill then be the problem whether,as hitherto, there shal l be one minimum for all alike, orwhether the cheapworking lines shall be allowed to chargea lower rate than the systemwhere the prevailin conditionsdo not permit of the same economy . In ot er words,whether the cost of working shall be taken into consideration in fixing the minimum rate which may be noted bythe different systems . I t is too much to expect t t thereshall be a different minimum for each railway, smal l andlarge, but it is submitted that different minimum rates

based on cost of working could be laid down for the largersystems, and a general minimum for the smaller, and thatsuch a procedure would be both fair to the consignor whosegoods are to be carried, and in the interests of Governmentas owning the railways.”



My next stepwas to write to Lord Salisbury under date8th March 1877, to the effect that ‘

as the time ap roachedwhen the relations of the East Indian Railway mpanywith the Government of India would come under review inthe terms of the contract, we found our freedom of proceeding in the management of the line, and consideration of

measures for the development of the trafiic, much afi'

ected

by the uncertainties of our position requesting in conclusionthat His Lordshipwould allow me to see him on the subject.

I waited on him on the 15th March 1877 . He heard whatI had to say, and having spoken amongst other things of

difiiculties in the interpretation of the contract, referredme in the end to General Strachey. the Chairman of theRailway Committee of his Council.”

Various communications having passed between GeneralStrachey and myself, I received from him in the result, a

declaration of Lord Salisbury’s views in the followingconfidential letter dated 3rd May 1877“I return the paper you left with me. Acting on our

authority to do so,if I thought fit, I have Shewed It toLord

Salisbury. To take up the discussion where we left it, Inow wish to repeatwhat I before said, that the only basis onwhich I have any authority to treat is, that the Railwayshall become the property of the State. At the same time itis suggested, thatarrangements might be come to between theGovernment and the Company, under which the Company,either as now constituted or in some modified shape, mightcontinue to work the Railway on a lease for a term ofears .yI f no such arrangement commends itself to theCompany

it will only remain for the Government to act under the

terms of the existing contract, when the date for exercisingthepower of purchase arrives. The exact form that

shou (I be given to a working arran ement must be subjectof negotiation. The essential con itiou, which I cannotgive up, is, that the prospective share in the profits of theRailway, which a working company shall receive, must belimited to an amount which w ill fairly represent theremuneration to which they would be entitled for managingthe business . I am at present disposed to estimate thisas follows

Theca ital represented by thewholeconcern being takenat 30 millions, the Government might be expected to shareon 25 millions, and would leave 5 millions as the sum on

which theCompany would share in thedivision of theprofits .

The five millions in question might be contrrbuted,

either as a new subscription of debenture capital, or might

GENL. STRACHEY ON THE QUESTION OF PURCHASE. 103

be transferred from the amount which the Governmentwill have to pay the Company, as purchase-money

, on thetermination of the existing contract.“If such a basis were accepted for discuss ion, it would,

I think, not be difi cult to come to an understanding, as tothe principles on which the existing shareholders shouldbe paid, on the transfer of the Railway to the Government,so as to give them the ful l value contemplated by thecontract. I t would probably simplify matters if this weredisposed of quite apart from the arrangement for thefuture, at least provisionally.

“The question that would then arise would be whetherthe capital amount, which I have proposed to fix at five

millions, should be subscribed as an additron to the existingcapital, subject to the condition of being paid up as re

quired from time to time, or whether it Should be regardedas having been supplied by a corresponding amount of thesum payable to the shareholders , on the purchase of theRailway b theGovernment, leaving the future provision of

capital to 8 met independently .

“The net profits to be divided between the Governmentand the Company would be the net income of the Railway,after deducting the annual sum paid by the Government,in fulfilment of the terms of the old contract and intereston the sum advanced by the Government, as guaranteed,

entered with the simple interest accrued thereon, togetherwith all interest on Debentures, not included in the payment under the old contract.“I think that this includes all themore essential points

on which to form an opinion, whether we are likely to cometo an understanding as to a work ing arrangement for thefuture or the contrary .

“In any case, as Governments are proverbial] slow in

their action, it has already become time for us tobring our

machinery into operation in connection with this question,and if you hear that this has been done, you will not besurprised , though at the same time you are not to assumethat there is an intention of closing the door to an arrangement with you, on a basis such as we can accept.

”

This undoubtedly was a most importantcommunication. It indicated that the Government fully intended to purchase the EastIndian Railway, though they did not intendto take it over absolutely

,if the Company

104 HISTORY OF THE 11. I . RAILWAY.

proved willin to enter into an arrangementor working t e line that would meet theirv1ews .

Mr . Crawford very carefully consideredthis letter

,and having discussed the terms

with his colleagues wrote to General Strachey on the 2nd June, 1 877 , as follows

I have careful ly considered the proposals contained in

your letter of the 3rd May. I t may sufiice for present

urposes if I say that they appear to me to contain thefiasis of a practical working arrangement in the future.

”

Mr. Crawford in his pamphlet proceeds tosay that the whole subject was then, or soonafterwards, submitted for the judgment of theGovernment of India, and further action on

the part of the Board became unnecessary,until, it being made known later on in

the autumn that General Strachey was

about to go to India, the Board applied forand obtained the sanction of the Government to their Consulting Engineer

,Mr .

Rendel , proceeding to Calcutta also, in orderto facilitate, by his presence on the spot, thesettlement of many matters affecting the

Railway that were likely to come underdiscussion.

The reply of the Government of India tothe reference of Lord Salisbury having beenreceived

,Mr. Crawford was invited b Sir

Louis Malet, the Under Secretary of tate,on the l 6th July , 1878 , to call at the IndiaOffice , and on doing so found that he hadbeen entrusted by Lord Cranbrook (who had


CHAPTER X.

QUESTIONS BEFORE THE BOARD AFTER THE PUR~

CHASE OF THE RAILWAY RY GOVERNMENT.

RETROSPECT OF THE POSITION OF THE COMPANY AT THE TIME— REDUCTION OF THIRD

CLASS FARES AND OTHER MATTERS.

ON the last day of the year 1879 the con

tracts, under which the mutual relations of

the Company and the Indian Governmenthad subsisted for more than thirty years, terminated the undertaking was transferredto the Secretary of State and a fresh agreement for the management and working ofthe Railway came into force .The ne otiations with the Secretary of

State had een long and difficult, but the ultimate arrangement was satisfactory both tothe Government and the Company. The realobject of the Government in making thisnew agreement seems to have been to secureto the State a larger share of the profits thanit received under the previous contracts, and

at the same time to leave the working andmanagement of the line in the hands of theCompanywho had so successfully administered its affairs in the past.The general principle of the new contract

in regard to the division of earnings was that,

having ascertained the amount of networkn

DI SPOSAL OF SURPLUS ASSETS. 107

profits,certain deductions were made in res

peet of interest charges,contributions to pro

vident fund, and so forth, and the balance,called the surplus profits

,was then left to be

divided between the Government and the

Company in the proportion

4- 5 ths to Government.l - 5th to the Company .

Now at the time of the purchase of the

Railway by the State, the Company had inhand certain surplus assets, amounting to

over one hundred thousand pounds, and thequestion arose how this sum should be disposed of. Part of it consisted of unclaimedinterest and dividends and could not betouched, but there remained at the disposalof the shareholders about seventy thousandpounds and out of this it was decided to

gay thirty- four thousand to , Sir Macdonaldtephenson, in commutation of a pensionvoted to him some years previously, and

from the balance to make a grant to Mr.Robert Ingram Crawford

,the Chairman

of the Company, whose exceptional services called for some special recognition.

Mr. Crawford was one of the few gentlemen who met together, before the EastIndian Railway Company was formed, toconsider the question whether the railwaysystem was adapted to India and if so howmoney for the purpose of constructing a railway could best be provided. He and Mr.Stephenson then agreed that nothing could


be done without a Government guarantee,but it took them some years to establish theprinciple of a guarantee, and not until thishad been done could the Company be formed.

Mr. Crawford had been with the Companfrom its initiation he had made bimse fmaster of its history and of every one of its

transactions ; he had been instrumental inintroducing many economies and finally haddevoted several years ofhis life to the ne otiations with the Government, which h justbeen brought to a successful issue . It wasdecided to make him a grant of fifteen thousand pounds, and to divrde the balance of thesu lus assets among the shareholders.here were also at this time certain

balances at the credit of the Savin 8 Bank”

and Fine Fund” standing in the ooks of

the Company,apart from the funds of the

undertaking,which were also available for

disposal .The position of the subordinate staff of

the Company in India, with reference to theeducation of their children and placing themout in life, had long been an object of solicitude with the Directors

,and it was thought

that this money might be devoted to theestablishment of a school in the bi lls for theeducation of the children of Company’s servants. The amount available from the comhined funds was rather more than four lakhsof rupees and was at least sufficient to form anucleus for carrying out a scheme of the kind.



Then again the report of Mr. Rendel onthe subject of his last V isit to India had tobe dealt with. The chief object of this visit

,

as already indicated, had been to considerwith Mr. Leslie, the Company

’s Agent atCalcutta

,what extension of the works of

the Railway, having reference to the thenrecent rapid increase of traffic, might, on theassumption of its continuance

,be necessary

within the next few years.The subject which first engaged Mr.

Rendel’

s attention was one to which theconstantly augmenting traffic of the line

a daily increasing importance,

namely, the provision of proper means fortransferring oods, on their arrival at Howrah,from the Rai way to the ships in the Hooghlyriver or to warehouses inCalcutta or Howrahand mice versa.

The warehouses were mostly on the Calcutta side of the river, and goods leavingthe East Indian Railway could only reachthem either by being carted over the floatingbridge or by boat. A connection by rail wastherefore greatly to be desired.

Messrs. Rendel and Leslie now held theopinion that the connection should be madeabout 24 miles north of Calcutta, thus placingthe Eas t Indian Railway in direct communication with the Eastern Bengal Railway andthe Port Trust Jetties along the Calcuttafore - Shore. The Board accepted their viewsand the Govermnent after considering the

JUBILEE BRIDGE DESIGNED . 111

matter proposed that the bridge should beconstructed by the East Indian Railway aspart of the undertaking.

The cost of the bridge, excluding the sumrequired for the approaches and for thejunction of the two lines, was originallyestimated at Rs. and the RailwayCompau at once agreed to undertake thework. r. Leslie came to En land and, in

consultation with Mr. A. M. endel, drewu

gedesigns which were sanctioned shortly

a rwards.

In 1880Dr. Saise, Assistant Mana

ger of the Company’s Collieries, made a very

careful survey of the coal -fields then openedup in Bengal and summed up his conclusionsin the following wordsThe output Of the coal -field is fromto tons per annum, of which

the East Indian Railway raises totons assumin an output of

tons, the coal -field w'

have a life of 162

years.The output of the collieries has for manyyears very largely exceeded Dr. Saise’s estI

mate of tons a year, and as far asthe East Indian Railway is. concerned

,its

collieries are unable to turn out enough coalto meet its own requirements. The Railway has in consequence to buy part of itssup lies in the openmarket, but then it mustnot e forgotten that the field of operationshas also been greatly extended.


The length of line open in 1880wasmiles, or from Howrah to Delhi with certainbranch lines. The total length of railwaysopen to traffic throughout India was at thattime 9 , 14811miles, and we find in the administration report a reference to the developmentof Indian Railways

,which illustrates the

feeling of Government in those daysThe year 1880 is remarkable in the history of railways

in India as being connected with three important events.

It has seen an unprecedentedly rapid and successful development of State railways, it has witnessed the introduc

tion of private enterprise into railway construction, it

marks the date of the railway conference.

”

The battle of the gauges had only justbeen determined and railway competitionhad

,compared with present day com etitiori,

hardly begun. Still in the Traffic Manager’sreport for the second half of the year a reference is made to competition speaking of thespeed of goods trains the remark appears

I t behoves us now that Railway Companies are competing with us so keenly, to increase as far as possible thespeed of goods trains and again I t is much to be

regretted that our new engines cannot be run at a higher

speed than 13 and 15 miles an hour with 600 ton loads .

’

The head- quarters of the Traflic Department were at Jamalpur , Mr. N. St. LegerCarter was the Traffic Manager, he had WIthhim a Deputy and a Personal Assistant andthe line was divided into fiveTraffic Districts.Some idea of the working may be derivedfrom a glance at the time tables and goodsand coaching tariffs of the period.


1 14 HISTORY or THE E. I . RAILWAY.

stations and some runs were far longer, asmuch in fact as 161 miles.The C tariff, then called the Time

and F was a small volume of 78

pages and contained train timin fares andrules. The intermediate class are was 4}pies per mile, and the third class 3 pies, butas has been already indicated, the questionof reducing the latter was under consideration. The Traffic Manager held the opinion

reduction was unnecessary, and his

on was shared by other officials in India.

stionwas one for cons iderable controversy. There were two roposals,one to reduce the fare from 3 to 2 pres permile, the other to reduce to 2 pies. Both proposals were strenuously opposed by theAgent, the Traffic Manager and Chief Auditor, mainly on the ground that if either of

them had the anticipated effect of increasabnormally, the number of passengers tocarried, the provision of sufficient vehi clesin which to ca them would become an

impossibility ! n spite of this opposition,

the reduction to 25 pies, ordered by Govement as an experimental measure, was supported by the Home Board, who indeed hadno alternative but to acquiesce, althoughthey were admittedly doubtful as to the expediency of the move. The reduced fare wasIntroduced on the Jubbulpore branch and on

the main line above Naim in Janu 1882,being extended belowNaini inJuly fo owing.

REDUCTION OF THE THIRD CLASS FARE. 1 15

The earnings fi'

om third class passengersat once responded ; in 1 881 they amountedto Rs . in 1882 they went up toRs. It is only fair tomention that

eat rise .in the earnings was partly dueto aHumbh Mela at Allahabad, still therewas never, in after years, any loss in a year

’sfigures on the contrary the third class trafficcontinued to respond and the lesson of thereduction is one to be remembered. To illustrate how strenuously it was opposed inIndia, the following extract from the TrafficManager’s report for the first half of 1881

will suffice

Third class engers as usual shew a decided increaseon the figures 0 any previous half year, renderin still moreincomprehensible and inexplicable the course to e pursued

of reducing the third class fare by one-sixth .

”

Successive half-yearly reports harped on

the question, but the only explanation can bethat previous remarks had in some way oranother to be

'

ustified thus we find that inthe second half-year of 1882, a temporaryfall ing off in intermediate class passengersis attributed to the reduction in third classfares, and again in 1 884, itwas actually proposed that the old fares should be revertedto, the Traffic Manager writing

It is evident from the low average distance travelledclass passengers, that the reductionmade in 1882

in the hope of encoura in longer journe s has entirelyfailed in its object, and t ink the time now arrivedto revert to our former rate of 3 pies per mile for thegreater portion of the line.


So much for the controversy on thirdclass passenger fares, the reduction was

evidently a very sore point, but the resultsproved from the outset that it was fullyjustified. Since those days the average distance travelled by each passenger has becomestill shorter, but this is due, not to reduetion in fares, but to the greater number ofpeople who have gradually been induced totake the rail for short journeys

,instead of

walking the distance, and also to the openingof alternative routes.The fares for first and second class passengers were much the same in 1 880 as at thepresent time, first class one anna and-a-halfand second class nine pies, but no reductionwas then made , as it is now,

for long distancejourneys. Efforts were however being con

sidered to develop the higher classes, and

we read as a novel feature in Indian Railwayadministration, of the opening of negotia

tions with Messrs. Thos. Cook Son, the

well -known tourist agents. In the year 1 880,Messrs. Thos. Cook Son started theirfirst agency in India at Bombay.

The goods and mineral traffic was contending with What we would now consider a veryhigh tariff. Giridih coal worth Rs. 3 a tonin wagons at the Coll ieries, cost Rs. 30 a tonb the time it reached Lahore, while toChlcutta the frei ht charge from Sitarampurwas no less than 8 . 3 - 13 8 ton. No rebateswhatever were allowed and with such a tariff



and the assistance given to collier pro

prietors was nominal. It was records at thetime

,as a great concession, that with a V iew

to the encoure ement of trade, the RailwayCompany WO (1 lend second-hand rails tothose who could not meet the entire cost ofproviding themselves with the necessarysidings to their pits, and in 1881 the Companydiscontinued the sale of coal to outsiders.Apart from coal, the rates for all classes

of merchandise were exceedingly highcompared with what they now are, and

in some instances transport difficulties wereenormous. As an instance the route fromCalcutta .to Darjeeling was viaSahebgunge.

Goods were forwarded by rail to Sahebgunge,thence by steam ferry across the Ganges toa place called Caragola and onward by bullock cart. The charge for tea from Darj eeling,

where by the way the East IndianRailway had an out -agency, to Cara Ola,was over Rs. 2 -0-0per maund, and for sa t inthe upwards directron nearly Rs. 3 -0-0, and

yet the traffic was growing.

The rate for wheat from Delhi to Howrahwas 13 annas permaund compared with 0- 7 - 1 1

per maund, the present rate. The whole ofthe goods tariff was contained in one smallvolume now the oods tariff comprises threelarge volumes, anIfthere is a separate one forcoal . The total goods earnings of the yearwere well under 300 lacs of rupees or lessthan a poor half year’s earnings now.

OPENING OF RAJPUTANA RAILWAY. 119

But great changes were coming on apace.1881 Calcutta was much in advance

in the uantity of wheat and

seeds exported from ndia, while Kurracheewas a port ofminor significance. The openup ofa large wheat-producing count byconstruction of the Raj utana Rail

iway,altered the aspect entirely

, fCr in addition toopening 11 a new country, this Railway alsohad the e ect of directly connectin the Punjab with Bombay and althou Calcuttastill continued to do well in see 8

,Bombay

shot ahead with its wheat exports and

follo this the source of wheat supplymoved from Bengal to the North

The opening upof the Rajputana Railwayshortened the dIstance between Delhi and

Bombay by 345 miles and distances now

Miles.Bombay toDelhi m’

d Bomba Baroda and CentralIndia and Rajputana Rai wa

D itto. m'

d Jubbu poreD itto Calcutta to Delhi

As a conse uence the question of competition between ombay and Calcutta assumedwhat was described as a position of graveim ortance,

”and so much consideration had

tohe iven to it that Mr. Leslie, the Agentand C ief Engineer, was relieved ofhis dutiesChief Engineer, retaining only char 8

of the Hooghly bridge, and Mr. C. H.


Denhamwas appointed ChiefE ineer. Thisuestionof com tition between mbay andalcutta is d t with however in greaterdetail elsewhere.In spite of all this the first half of the

year 1883 will long be remembered by thosewho were on the line at the time as a recordwheat year. The Howrah sheds were blockedfor weeks

,with the grain which came from

Cawnpore, Benares, Patna and other points,and the resources of the Railway to car itwere taxed to the utmost. Mr. Ur an

Broughton, who was officiating TrafficManager, devised a system of night deliveries from Howrah passenger statIon, and

even third class carriages were requisitionedto load the grain when wagons could not begot. As a climax the water- supply on theChord line failed and much of the traffic hadto be diverted over the single line ma theloop. Fortunately this did not occur untilthe month of June, by When the reat bulkof the traffic had already passed 50wn and

the rains were near at hand.

In these days the earnings from wheatwere often heavier than from coal ; in thefirst half of 1883 the freight earned on thewheat carried was over 3 1 lacs of rupees,whereas from coal the takings were under30 lacs.The wheat traflic of 1883 was the heaviest

ever carried until 1904. The figures of thesetwo years are interesting as indicating , not



would be made in respect of the first halfof the

Puyea

ras had hitherto been done.

These es continued in force until 1 903when, as shewn in another chapter, theywere further modified and the existing rulesintroduced.

CHAPTER XI.

GROWTH OF THE COAL TRADE IN 1883— THE

QUESTION OF WORKING THE EAST INDIANRAILWAY BY STATE OR COMPANY MANAGE

MENT— AGITATION IN CALCUTTA REGARD

ING CONSTRUCTION OF THE GRAND CHORD.

RETIREMENT OF SIR BRADFORD LESLIE.

DEATH OF MR. CRAWFORD.

FOLLOWING the great wheat export tradeof 1883, there was a short period of depres

sion. In 1883 everythin had been in

favour of the ex rtatlon 0 Indian wheatthe stocks he] in England and on theContinent were small and there were poorharvests

,both in Europe and America. But

in 1884 the position was reversed and the

average price of Wheat in England becamelower than it had been Since the year 1780.

During the first half of 1 884 there was , on

the East Indian Railway, a decrease in

wheat traffic alone of no less thantons, and the only considerable set off was anincrease of tons in the weight of coalcarried.

The coal trade which for some years hadbeen slowly developin was now beginningto attract attention. hen the East IndianRa ilway was constructed , coal was almost

124 HISTORY OF THE E. r. RAILWAY .

unknown in India. Mr . Crawford referringto this in 1885 , remarked

I f a man fell in with a bit of coal inhis walk, he wouldpick it up as a curiosity, and throw it away because it

d irtied his finger. That was all that was known of coal30 years ago. I t was the act of this Company whichbrought coal to light. From a basis of comparativelynothing 30 years ago, we have now risen to carry one

million and a half tons in the course of the year. Thenativemind is so full of prejudice, that onemight have beenafraid that the use of an article like coal would have excitedsome superstitious feeling, but when the native came toknow that coal was only fossilized wood, hehad no objectionto burn it

, and with such an enormous population as we

have in India, with such large cities and factories rising ina ll quarters and steam engines and so on, we see theexplanation of the great increase in the quantity of coalbrought to us for conveyance. So it will go on and ve

largely increase. I venture to predict that the time w'

l

come, which I Shall probably not witness, when the articleof coal will be our largest Source of profit.

”

Mr. Crawford had great foresight and hisprediction has come true

,but he seems to

have looked more to the internal consumption of coal than to the export trad e, whichhas been where the largest growth has

actually come . The natives of India havenot yet taken freely to the use ofcoal as fuelfor domestic purposes

, when they do so theconsumption will be enormous ; and it isperfectly certain that sooner or later thetime must arrive when they will have to, forwood fuel and charcoal are becoming moreand more scarce every year, and there isnothing left to burn,

but dried cowdung orcoal. Already we find coal used by nativesfor brick burning and for manufacturing


126 HISTORY OF THE E. r. RAILWAY.

for works under Government. I t avoids the disadvantagesappertaining to State agency, which is liable, more or less,according to circumstances and to the character of those inauthority, to be affected by influences from which a

company under proper State and le islative supervision is

free. I t ensures better than any ot er way the formationof railway systems or administrations of suitable size. It

is the bestway of securingahealthycompetition. Supposinga system of Government agency to be carried out in its

entIrety, a hugestatemonopoly would be established whichwould not be advantageous to the country or conduciveto the interests of the various districts traversed. Uponthe whole, therefore, I think that, under suitable legislativeenactments, and with fair competition, the best results wil lbe secured b employing companies as far as practicable.

Might I be lowed to quote a high authority in support ofthis View, namely, Lord Salisbury . When he was Secretaryof State he had to consider the question of urchasing the

East Indian Railway and in a despatch to t 8 Governmentof India relating to that pro sitIon he says

The question is shall t e Railwa if purchased bythe Government, be worked direct y by the State, or

shal l an attempt be made to continue the workinthrough the agency of a company, suitably constituteto which the Railway Shal l be leased for a term ofears ? I am not disposed to cal l in

question the possi

hilit of carryin out the working 0 a railway, such

as t e East In ian, throu h Government agency in a

satisfactory manner. But t e difiiculties in the wa ofcombining the habitual, and indeed necessary rigi ity,with which a system of Government financial and

administrative control must work, with the freedom ofaction required for the successful mana sment of aconstantly varying business like that o a railway ,made up of a vast mass of details. would be considerable ; and to avoid them would require both a happyselection of officers and well -contrived administrativerules and methods, which, though no doubt attainable,could not be confidently or permanently reckoned upon.

1 Viewwith no small anxiety the ever continuedexpansionof the vast establishments of yourGovernment, which,as they grow, place anever increasing weight of bus inessonyourself and our officers, Whose stren th is alreadyover-taxed, and

,

leave an ever diminis ing area for

independent action That such a state of things is, to

some extent, an almost necessary consequence of ourposition in India, may be true but this in itself is an

col panv. niamermaur Pan s sasn. 127

argument for resistiu the tendency, when it may be

done without the sacri cc of objects of evident importance. For such reasons I should in the present case, as

now advised, gladly hear from Y our Excellency’s Government that you were of opinion that the working of

the East Indian Railway might, without objection, beentrusted to a private company, in the event of the

purchase of the line being efi'

ected.

’

The result we know. The working arran sment wasmade, and I think it will be admitted that the st resultshave ensued.

Mr. Danvers strongly advocated the policyof employing private enter rise and experi

ence, in 0 position to State inemanagement,and Mr. grawford in 1885 wrote a brochureor pamphlet called The Result we know,

”

the Obj ect of which was , by an analysis ofstatistics for the preceding five years, toverify the truth u on which Mr. Danvers’

argument was foun ed, and to place on recordwhat rivate experience and private directionhad e coted, in the case of the East IndianRailway.

It is unnecessary to quote in detail fromthis brochure, but as a result of the examination of the fi ures relating to the coachingand goods tra c, theBoard ofDirectorswroteseveral letters to the Agent in India, impressupon him the necessity of examining intocultivatingevery possiblemeansofincreas

ing the traffic of the line. Particular stresswas laid on the desirability of developingthe local movement of pas sengers and goods,by reducing charges and affording facilitiesbetween large internal centres, and by

128 HISTORY or THE. R. I . RAILWAY.

encouraging the use of coal for domesticpurposes. The letters In fact were a clearindication of the liberal intentions of the

Board and a guide to the policy they desiredshould generally be followed.

During the next few ears the competitionbetweenBombay and alcutta became moreacute and considerable reductions were madein the railway rates, by the differentadministrations interested. At about the

same time some correspondence arose as tothe construction of the Grand Chord line,attempts being made to influence publicopinion towards its being carried out by theOudh and Rohilkhand Railway, but theclaim of the East Indian was beyond disputeand nothing came of the agitation.

One of Mr. Crawford’s last acts as Chairman of the East Indian Railway Companywas to publish some observations on theremarks of Sir Alexander Wilson at theAnnual General Meeting of the BengalChamber of Commerce on the 28th Februs ty 1889 and other sayings and doings atCalcutta in connection with the proposedGrand Chord line .The President of the Chamber of Com

merce had said at the Annual Meeting heldinCalcutta on the 28th February, 1 889 , thatthe East Indian Railway was the sole meansof transport between the North West Provinces and Calcutta ; that its resources wereinadequate for the trade of the country


130 HISTORY or m s R. I . RAILWAY.

Calcutta merchants have seen their trade gradually butsteadily deflecting to the other side of India, and under

existing circumstances have been powerless to stop thisdeflection.

3 . That the competition resulting from the constructionofan alternative route would ensureproper accommodationfor goods and traflic and bring down rates sufi cientlv, to

attract again to Calcutta, a considerable amount of thetraffic which is nowattracted by cheaper land carriage to

theWestern Coast.4 That competition alone will secure that control of

rates so essential to the development of the resources ofthe country and that all control over the East IndianRailway rates has beenabandoned by Government.If you will permit me to remark, under each of thesefour heads

,I shall be much obliged .

The line stated to be necessary is that afl'

ording an

alternative route betweenMoghalsarai and Calcutta.

l . The statement that the East Indian Ra ilwayhas repeatedly failed in times of pressure seems ratherswee ing. I t is extremely questionable whether it

can stated that the capacity of this Railway to

trans rt traffic over its lines between stations hasever een approached . There is a double line throughout betweenMoghalsarai and Howrah, and the onlymeans of ascertaining whether more lines of rails are

required seems to be to determine what daily tonnagecan be hauled over the present lines, and what tonnagecould be given by Calcutta merchants, with favourablerates to Calcutta, as compared with the charges to

Western Ports , taken advantage of by Calcutta. If it

be found that the double line of the East IndianRailway Company is prepared to deal with a considerable progressive development of traffic, why shouldmoney be sunk in 400 or more miles of new l ine, if thealternative railway is intended to enter Calcutta at a

separate terminus from that of the East Indian Railway, as would appear to be the intention of the President of the Chamber of Commerce ? The difficultiesreferred to by thePres identhave, even in the merchants’view,

been practicallyconfined to terminal accommodation. The only serious difi culty was in 1883, whenexport trade developed suddenly beyond all expectations. Merchants had neither cargo, boats nor carts

to clear arrivals to their full extent no steamers,nor

warehouses in which to stow consignments whencleared, the result being that the then existing

x. B. n.

’

s LETTER ON THE R. l . R . 131

accommodation at Howrah became congested andeventually rolling stock, instead of transportin grainand seeds, became locked up in warehousing t em at

Howrah. Since 1883 the railway accommodationhas been largely increased , and only three years later,in 1886 , Howrah dealt with the same weight of trafficin the busy months as in 1883, without diflicultieseither to merchants or the railway. Since 1886 the

shed room at Howrah has been further increased, andthere is now also the option to merchants to deliver on

the Calcutta s ide.

2 . If the East Indian Railway is a monopolistcompany, it must be admitted that it uses its powerswith great consideration towards its constituents. The

Administration Report recently issued by the D irectorGeneral of Railways shews that the charges levied bycertain railways for the carriage of goods vary as be

low

Average sum in pies received for carrying a ton of

goods one mileEast Indian. North West Great Indian Baroda Rajputana.

ern. Peninsular.

The charges by the East Indian Railway are, thereforemuch lower than those of the lines serving Bombay andKurrachee. In other words Calcutta has an immenseadvantage over Bombay in the matter of railwaycharges .

3 . As explained under head ( 1 ) it is very much open

toquestion, Indeed , whether Calcutta, includingHowrah,has not ample accommodation for the present, and even

for a largely increased trade. On the other hand, thereseems to have been no attempt to show that a new line

,

running, as must the alternative route, through a

country already served by the East Indian Railwayand branches, can attract any considerable new traffic.

I f the two railways were under separate managements,and proceeded to competition, the undoubtedly low

rates already charged by the East Indian would beliable to further reduction, and there would be everyprobability of the new railway becoming a burden toits owners . There is on] one railway in India charging lower rates than the ast Indian, and that railway ,although open for a number of years, returns only 33per cent. per annum on the capi tal outlay. As regards


the alleged cheaper land carriage to Bombay, the Presidentwas clearly in error in his statement on this point.

The distance from Calcutta to Bombay, and Jubbul re,

is miles , Jubbulpore being distant 6 16 miles romBombay and 784 miles from Calcutta. Even at Juhbulpore and at the important station of Sihora, near toJubbulpore, charges are greatly in favour of Calcutta,notwithstanding the shortest lead to Bombay, whilefrom K irwee 6 73 miles from Bombay and 727 milesfrom Calcutta, the charges for grain and seeds are, per

hundred maunds

4 . The question whether the control Of rates h as

been abandoned by Government appears to be one

requirin the confirmation of Government or of theEast In ian Railway . I t is to the mutual interestsof Calcutta merchants and of the East Indian Railwayto keep trade to Calcutta and prevent diversion to

WesternPorts, and all will agree that the Eas t IndianRailway must be reasonable in its charges, when thefact is known that last year Bombay got the lion’s shareOf the trade from an important station, distant 540

miles from Calcutta and 880miles from Bombay, ratesRs . 43 per hundred maunds in favour Of Calcutta. Inother words the charge to Bombay was almost twice as

much as to Calcutta.

All circumstances considered , it is submitted thatfurther en uiry on thepart of the Chamber is desirable regar ing the facil i ties they already receive fromthe existing line Of communication.

X B. E.

TO this letter no convincing reply was

forthcoming, but after many years the Government, as will be seen in another chapter,sanctioned the construction Of the GrandChord line as part Of the undertaking Of theEast IndianRailway.

It need hardly be pointed out that theinterests Of the State and Of the East Indian



Commander Of the Indian Empire was con

ferred on Sir Alexander M. Rendel , who hadthen been for upwards of thirty years theConsulting Engineer of the Company.

Sir Bradford Leslie , retired in1887 , and was succeeded as Agent by Mr.David Wilkinson Campbell, 0 I .E.

,who was

at the time the Locomotive SuperintendentOf the Company. Shortly after his retirement Sir Bradford Leslie put forward ascheme for the construction Of a new line Ofrailway , between Moghalsarai and the townOfHooghly, to compete with the East IndianRailway . The Board lost no time in entering With the Secretary Of State their protestagainst this scheme

,on the ground that

the construction by this Company Of a GrandChord line between Sitarampur andMoghal .

sarai , the main line originally proposed andsurveyed by this Company in 1850, wouldbe the natural complement to a line followingthe course Of the Ganges

,Whenever the

circumstances Of the country , commercial ,political or otherwise, should require it and

Justify the large expenditure which it wouldinvolve .In 1 888 the first portion Of the Company ’s

hill school at Mussoorie was opened . Thisschool Which has since proved a great benefitto the Company’s employés

,is not intended

for the education of the children of servantsof the superior grade but for the childrenOf those who, by reason of their position in

DEATH or MB. CRAWFORD . 135

the service , lack the means Of sendin themto be educated inED land. A more etailed

account Of the Hil School will be foundelsewhere.In 1888 Sir Macdonald Ste henson

resigned his position as Deputy Chairmanof the Board, though he continued on the

directorate until 189 2 , and in 1889

Mr . Crawford, who for thirty - five years hadbeen Chairman Of the Company, died . Thesetwo had been associated in the formation of

the Company, Mr. Crawford had been aDirector as early as 1847 and had beenChairman Of the Board Since 1854. Hisservices both in the interests Of Government and in those Of the shareholders hadbeen Of a specially valuable nature.Mr. Crawford, to quote from Herepath,

had a great eye for figures like all mastersOf the arithmetical and statistical craft , heput life and force into his statistics ; givingthem that margin which never fails to carryhome the particular point to be inculcated.

CHAPTER XII .

APPOINTMENT or GENERAL SIR RICHARDSTRAOHEY AS CHAIRMAN— HIS V ISIT TO IND IA.

ON the loth Of October,1889 , General

Strachey was appointed Chairman Of the

Board OfDirectors, and immediately decided

upon a personal visit to India . Aecom

panied by Sir Alexander Rendel, the Consulting Engineer of the Company

,he sailed In

January and arrived in Bombay on the 181:

February,1890.

General Strachey remained in India untilthemiddle OfMarch, and during his six weeks

’

stay dealt with many important questions.

He instituted an enquiry into the routine of

the ompany’s work, by appointing a commit

tee to investigate the manner in which alldepartments were conducted ; the general Ohj ect being to simplify procedure and expeditethe transaction Of business Without impairing

.

efficiency. He gave his attention to thetrain service, and particularly to the transit Ofgoods

,directing that immediate steps should

be taken to improve the speed Of trains, and

that at all events one despatch shall beprovided to carry goods Of the higher classdirectly to Cawnpore ,

”for in those days there

was no direct service between Calcutta and


GENL . STRAOHEY IN INDIA . 137

Cawnpore, and merchants complained bitterly Of the unconscionable time their consignments took in transit . He arranged for sanction to the sinking of trial pits to test thequality Of coal in the Jherriah coal - field, witha view to the opening up ofthat field by extending the Barrakur branch line, which thenterminated at Barrakur, across the river. Heattended meetings Of the Chamber Of Commerce, both in Calcutta and Cawnpore, and

originated the idea Of a local ConsultativeBoard . He studied the question ofcoal rates,and modified the terms under which sidings tomills and collieries were constructed, so as tomake them less burdensome than they thenwere. He re-opened the question Of constructing the Grand Chord line , and Ofputtingin additional branch lines as feeders to themain line ; reviewed the position in regard tothe opening Of the Kidderpore Docks, and

dealt with numerous other important issuesunder consideration at the time . This visitof the Chairman to India was in fact attended with far reaching results, but above all , itgave the Government Of India, the servantsOf the Railway Company

,and the public

who were its constituents,a very clear indi

cation Of what his future policy would be. Itwas at once recognised that a new Te

’

gime hadset in

,and that, as General Strachey remarked

at the time,with the advance Ofknowledge

and experience many changes had becomedesirable which should not be deferred.

”

138 HISTORY or THE E . I . RAILWAY.

In 1889 , the Head-Quarters Of the TrafficDepartment were at Jamalpur, an out- Of- theway station on the loop line

, where formonths together a merchant was never seen.

One Of the first acts of the Home Board,after the appointment Of General Stracheyas Chairman, was to direct that the TrafficManager Should make Calcutta his futureHead-Quarters, SO that he might be morein touch with the merchants and traders Of

Calcutta than is now possible , distant, as heis, some 300 miles from the port.

”The

move was not a popular one with the TrafficDepartment, and many arguments wereadvanced against it, but the wisdom of

the change soon became ap arent and wasnaturally insisted upon. One can hardlyconceive now how the traffic businessOf the undertaking could be managedfrom any other place than Calcutta, wherethe Head Of the Department is not only inconstant touch with the mercantile com

munity, but is in the same building as theAgent,the ChiefEngineer , the ChiefAuditorand other Officials of the Company, and Of theGovernment

,thus effecting a great economy

in time and correspondence .

It was in 1889 that the enormous possibilities Of a development Of the coal tradefirst attracted serious attention. Steamercompanies trading to the East were beginning to realize the advantage Of utilisinglocal sources of supply , instead of importing



declined to agree with the Government claimthat coal for the use OfStateRailways Shouldbe carried at a lower rate than coal for otherrailways, or, in fact, that there should beany differentiation between rates allowed toany particular class of consumers.This question Of coal rates was indeed

one Of the most important subjects raisedduring the Chairman’s visit to India

,and

,

although no immediate settlement was thencome to

,beyond the settlement of certain

general principles, still the basis was laidfor the consideration Of the coal tariff as awhole

,and this, coupled with the projected

opening up Of the Jberriah coalfield,and Of

the Kidderpore Docks,laid the foundation

for the enormous traffic since developed.

CHAPTER XIII .

THE GRAND CHORD LINE.

THE question Of constructing what isknown as the Grand Chord Line

,long ad

vocated by Mr. Crawford, was one Of thesubjects put before General Strachey duringhis visit to India. The Grand Chord Linehad first been surveyed in 1850, with theidea Of constructing the original main line bythat route, it being the more direct wayto the North-West but the Government Of

the day preferred,and no doubt wisely

preferred , the somewhat more circuitousLoop Line route, which tapped the greatcities and trade centres along the banks Of

the River Ganges. Mr. Crawford in 1886

reopened the question Of constructing theGrand Chord

,on the ground that it would

not only form a relief to the growingtraffic Of the main line

,but would consolidate

the great railway system Of the GangeticValley Without going into the earlierhistory Of the project it is enough to sayhere that

,before the arrival Of General

Strachey,the country had been re- surveyed

b Mr. Parker, one Of the Company’sEliigineers , and that estimates Of the cost

Of construction had been prepared, which


included a branch to the Palamow coal-fieldand a branch into Jberriah, though it wasadmitted that the precise location Of the

d ifferent lines comprising the scheme mighteventually be altered and improved. GeneralStrachey directed that the estimates shouldbe placed before the Government Of India,

with an Offer to construct both the GrandChord Line and the branches referred to aspart Of the undertaking. Thi s was in theearl part of 1890.

ears passed and nothing could be doneowing to the im ossibility Of Obtaining therequisite funds, ut at last, in 189 5 , the

Government authorised part Of the workbeing begun, under certain specified conditions , which the Board accepted. In themeantime, as detailed elsewhere, therehad been considerable discussion as to theagency through which the Grand ChordLine should be constructed, and it was asubject for congratulation that the justclaims Of the East Indian Railway werenot passed over. General Strachey in

advising the shareholders of the decisionremarked I need not therefore dwell onthis subject beyond expressing my satisfac

tion that the question, as to the Companybeing eventually placed in a position to carryout the Grand Chord Line , is now virtuallysettled and that no further controversyregarding it will be possible . I may, however,take the opportunity of adding that the


144 HISTORY or THE E. I . RAILWAY .

Of the traffic now carried to and from stations above Moghalsarai. HOW far suchreduction in charge will be followed byincreased traffic remains to be seen

,but

there is little doubt that the opening Of a

shorter route will be Of some benefit tothe port of Calcutta in its competition withBombay, and although, judging by the natureOf the country traversed by a considerableportion of the new line, it is doubtfulwhether its local traffic will prove more thannominal , there is no reason to look forwardto the result with any anxiety .

CHAPTER XIV.

THE JHERRIAH COAL - PIELD.

A S early as 1886 proposals were made bythe Railway Company to construct a bridgeacross the river at Barrakur, and to extendthe branch line , which then terminated atthat station, to the collieries on the otherside. In other words the Company had longrecognised that a bridge over the BarrakurRiver was the key to the Jherriah field.

Some time before General Strachey visitedIndia in 1 89 9 , Mr. Ward, Manager of theCompany’s Collieries, hadmadea preliminarsurvey Of this coal -field, which lay stillfurther inland than the collieries immediatelybeyondtheBarrakurRiver, which the railwayfirst intended to serve. The results of thissurvey were thought

'

sufi ciently satisfactoryto induce the Chairman, during his stay inIndia

,to solicit the approval Of the Govern

ment Of India to the Sinking Of trial pits totest the quality Of the coal ; while the question of extending the Barrakur branch lineinto Jberriah was at the same time mooted.

In 1890 a further report on the Jberriahfield was submitted by Mr. Ward. This report established beyond question that thearea surveyed contained a coal-field Of very

H, EIR \Q


great extent, both in respect to the qualityOf coal and its value.Estimates and plans Of a projected line Ofrailway from Barrakur Station to the Jherriah coal -field, a distance Of about 36 miles,were prepared

, and the Board sanctionedthe estimates subject to the confirmation Of

the Government Of India. With a view to

expediting matters the Board also addressedthe Secretary of State, pointing out thatthe expediency of constructing an extens ionacross the river at Barrakur had first beensuggested some years previously, that theDirectors were satisfied that itwas desirable,but that hitherto they had been unable toobtain the assent Of the Government of

India ; that further enquiry had confirmedtheir previous views, and had shewn theexpediency Of giving a somewhat greaterextension to the line than at first contemplated.

The Board , not having been able to Obtainconsent to the original pro osal, appear tohave anticipated fiIrther de ay in ObtainingGovernment sanction to the larger scheme,and therefore adopted every means in theirpower to convince the Secretary Of State of

the desirability Of constructing the extensionwithout loss Of time. In their letter theynot only pointed out that there were good

grounds for believing that the proj ectedlme would prove remunerative at an earlyperiod, but referred again to their general


148 HISTORY OR THE E. I . RAILWAY.

contrary Government opinion for sometime appeared opposed to ex enditure, on

what some of its responsible O cers thoughtmight prove an unprofitable undertaking.

A certain Consulting Engineer to Government, whose opinions ordinarily carried greatweight , held the view that the Jherriahbranch would never pay, and that It was notwanted, but General Strachey persistedwhen others might have given way in despair. At a meeting of the shareholders in1 89 1 , he publicly urged his case, saying

I t is a subject Of continued regret and disappointmentthat theGovernment still withholds its decision as to the

proposals Of the Board for constructing the branch linefrom Barrakur to the Jberriah coal-field. The positionof the Company under its contract with the Secretaryof State, In respect to the provision of additionalCapital, has unquestionably had a most unfortunate effectin crippl ing the Board in its attempts to carry out extensions Of the undertakin and the responsibi lity for anyfailure in this direction oes not rest wrth them. I t is not

easy to understand how the Indian Government, whichconstantly professes its anxiety for the extension of railways, when it can be shown that they are likely to be

profitable and can be undertaken Without adding to theburdens on the State, is able to reconcile such professionswith its passive resistanceto the Board’s prOposals, or howit can appropriate the enormous profits made from the

East IndianRailwa without an apparent thought of theclaims of districts t at have provided these large sums, toObtain extensions and amelioration Of their means Ofcommunication, in carrying out which the Board is notonly ready butmost anxious to participate.

”

It must be remembered that in these daysthere was little or no public opinion tosupport General Strachey ; the Jherriahcoal-field was known only to a few ; the land

THE BBNGAL-NAGPUR RY. IN JHERRIAH. 149

was all in the hands Of natives, who had no

idea Of its value,and in fact, but for the

coal beneath it, it had no value It wasmerely a bare uncultivated waste, the truevalue ofwhich was quite unsuspected.

But as soon as the East Indian Railwayconstructed a line into the centre of the

field, Coal Companies were formed, sidingsapplied for faster than they could be putin, and a rush Of traffic came which was

so sudden that it was almost beyond thepower Of the railway to carry it. Theconsequence was that the railway, whilemaking the most strenuous efforts to provideaddi tional facilities

,was blamed instead Of

thanked,and the public, thinking no doubt

that competitionwould lead to further reductions in rates

,clamoured for the admission

to the field of the Bengal -Nagpur Railway.

The Government allowed this other line in,to compete for the traffic of the Jberriahcollieries

,created by the enterprise of the

East Indian Railway alone. But after thiswas accomplished the Bengal-Nagpur Railway found that it could not compete forthe important Calcutta traffic because Of

its longer lead to that port, and becauseOf the fact that the Government would not

allow it to quote rates for the traffic belowthe sanctioned minimum,

such rates beingnecessary to equalize with the low chargesmade , before its entry , by the East IndianRailway. SO far as the Government, the


Bengal-Nagpur Railway and the publicwere concerned, the entry Of this line intotheJherriah coal-fieldwasmore or less a fiascoand matters were at a dead- lock, when theEast IndianRailway Oompan following itsusual liberal Olicy, came to t e rescue , and

induced theGovernment to allow the Bengal

-Nagpur Railway to quote equal rateswith it, and so participate in a Share of theCalcutta traffic, which undoubtedly belongedto them alone.Such in briefis the history Of the Jherriah

coal -field, and a few figures Of the trafi c

derived from it will suffice to prove its greatimportance.

0

COAL TRAI 'EIC EBOII JHRRRIAH BRANCH.


152 HI STORY OR THE E. I . RAILWAY .

the Goverment suggestion that State Railways should be charged a lower rate thanothers. TO quote his ownwords : there isno sufi cient ground for treating railwaysworked by State Agency differently fromthose worked by Companies.”

Such was the position in the beginning Of

1890, and it did not take long for the Government to recognise the soundness of thearguments put forward. The claim to the115th pie rate was given up, and it wasadmitted that all railways, whether State orotherwise

,should be treated alike. But

during the discussion further developmentsarose , and the outcome was that the wholeuestion of the coal tariff was placed beforeGeneral Strachey , as Chairman Of the EastIndian Railway, and General Williams, thenDeputy Government Director for IndianGuaranteed Railways.These two jointly drew up a scale of

Charges , and recommended that they Shouldapply to all customers alike

,whether railway

administrations in the hands Of the Government, or Companies, manufacturin firms orexporters or other traders

,and theSecretary

of State, having accepted them,requested

the Goverment Of India to take the necessarysteps to put them in force as early as possible .

ricfly stated the proposed tariff was asfollows

(C ) For all stations up to 400miles 01 5 pie per maundper mile.

INTRODUCTION OF REDUCED COAL TARIFF. 153

(b) For all stations over 400 miles, for the first 400

miles according to clause (a), for distances in excesspieper maund per mile.

These rates were subject to a scale Of

rebates for large consignments,and certain

rules were detailed as to routing and SO forth.

In accepting them the Board Of Directors Ofthe East Indian Railway wrote to the Secretary Of State

,on the 4th August 189 1 , in

the following termsThe Board readily assent to the proposals in question

and trust that the important concessrons to the public in

respect of the coal tarifi'

, which they embody, will be pro

ductive Ofmuch general advantage.

The Board are fully impressedwith the great importanceto all Indian interests Of increas ing the facilities for the

supply of chea coal, and they look forward with muchhopefulness to t e early establishment of an export tramc ofcoal from Calcutta, the value Of which it would bealmostimpossible to exaggerate,not only as regards the coal owners,but to all Indian industries, and they trust that theirendeavours to realize such a resultmay receive the supportof theSecretary of State and theGovernment Of India.

It wil l be the des ire Of the Board to carry out to the

fullest extent, that experiencemay shew to be reasonableand practicable, the reduction in the charges for the trans

port of coal over the undertaking, and they quite reco nisethat the tariff, which it is now proposed to adopt, wi besubject to reconsideration should this hereafter be founddesirable.

”

Thus was this all important subject settled,

not in India but in London, not on thenarrow lines suggested by the Government OfIndia

,but on the broad rinciple that there

Should be no differentia treatment Of thecustomers Ofa railway, or, in otherwords, thata rate given to one Should equally apply to all .The general effect of the new arrangement


was to give a substantial reduction in therates for all distances

,amounting to about

15 per cent, and this required a correspondingincrease of traffic to maintain the revenue atits former level, but at the time no uneasinesswas felt, for, as theChairman remarked, the

growth Of the coal tramc leaves no room fOoubting the early realization Of the requisiteincrease and gives reasonable ground for

expecting still further and more satisfactoryex ansiou in the future.”

at the expectations of the Home Boardin respect to the growth of the coal trafficwere fully realized is proved in a few words.In 189 1 the freight earnings Of the EastIndian Railway from coal were little morethan 63 lakhs Of rupees, in the year 189 6they had risen to over 9 7 lakhs, and in 1 901to over 1 801akhs . This enormous expansionOf trafi c will be dealt with more fully inanother chapter

,suffice to say here that the

scale Of char es, drawn up by GeneralsStrachey and illiams in remained inforce without material alteration for manyyears and was accepted, not only by theEast Indian, but generally speaking by all

the railwa s in India.

atural y, as time Went on and experiencewas gained Of the practical working Of thenew coal rates, certain modifications werefound desirable, but these, whether in the

rules or in the rates, were all in the natureof concessions to the trade , notably an


156 HI STORY or THE E. I . RAILWAY.

delay ; among these we need only ment ionthe Shortness Of wagon stock

,congestion of

traffic on the running lines and inadequateShipping facilities. During th whole periodin which the 189 1 tariff was in force thegrowth of the coal traffic was most Closelywatched , and, as early as 189 6 , furtherconcessions were mooted

,though it had not

then been established that any groundsexisted for reductions on the contrary, thecontinued expansion of the trade during theprevious five years supported an oppositeview. Various aspects Of the question werediscussed from time to time, but, althoughminor concessions were granted, as for

instance the reduction in the weight requiredto be put into wagons in order to Obtain thefull wagon” rates

,any substantial modifica

tion Of the tariff had to be deferred. Asamatter of fact, in 189 8, the Board proposed ,to their Agent in India, certain materialreductions in charges from the Jherriah and

To OSi branches, in order to place thecol

°

eries in those fields in a better positionthan they were , compared with fields nearerCalcutta, but these also were deferredbecause there was a rise in the price of coal ,and the Jberriah field , as evidenced by thetraffic carried

,was in no way hampered by

the charges in force. Beyond this,Colonel

Gardiner,the then A ent Of the Company,

feared that to give a Iarge reduction to theJherriah coal~field, except as a part Of a

THE 1902 SCALE. 157

complete scheme , would raise an outcryfrom collieries lower down the line .In June 1902 , however, the Board Of

D irectors revealed a complete scheme Of

revision,and in doing SO pointed out that

they had had the question before them Since1 89 8, remarking that until now circumstances have not admitted Of action beingtaken in the direction contemplated .

”The

tariff introduced in 1 89 1 was reviewed, and

it was shewn that, with the modificationsfrom time to time introduced , it had beenconsistent with a great development Of thetrade . The rebate system was commentedupon

,and the opinion expressed that, so far

as the ordinary coal traffic was concerned,

it was not necessary or convenient and

should not be perpetuated. Its abolitionwould benefit small consignors . But, for avariety of reasons

,the special treatment Of

export coal was held to be established and aSpecial rebate on such coal would thereforebe continued.

The Board’s roposal was to introduce thefollowing tariff or coal in full wagon loads :For distances up to 75 milesinclusive pie per maund per mile.

Plus for an distance inexcessof 75 mi es and up to 200

miles inclusivePlus for any distance in excessof 200 miles and up to 450miles inclusive

Plus for anydistance inexcessof 450mIles and up tomiles inclusive


A rebate Of 20 per cent to be allowed on allcoal exported

,nO other rebates being allowed.

These proposals were at once adopted,although it was estimated that the reduetions involved a sacrifice Of about 20 lakhsof rupees per annum. The benefit to thetrade was as fairly distributed as poss ibleto all consumers ; great encouragement wasgiven to long lead traffic and to the exporttrade, while in no case did the withdrawal Ofrebate on inland traffic cause hardship. On

the contrary each consignor got the equiva

lent Or more at the time Of despatch, insteadof several months afterwards, and the inconvenience Of calculating rebate dues was atonce put an end to.

The nicety Of the calculations involved inintroducing this revision Of the coal tariff,its completeness and

general suitability were

entirely due toGenera Sir Richard Strachey,

by whose hand the scheme was drawn up,

and it seems evident from the trial already

given to it that this tariff has proved an nuoubted success.In his address to the shareholders on thetraffic Of the first half Of 1903 , Sir RichardStrachey referred to this matter in thefollowing terms

I may be excused for taking th is opportunity for for

mally repudiating the suggestion, recently made by theAgent of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway Company, that theintroduction of the new coal tariff on the East IndianRailway last yearwas designed to rejudice thedevelopmentof the coal tramc Of the Bengal agpur line. The anggest ion appears to me to be so absurd on the face of It as


CHAPTER XVI .

GROWTH OF THE COAL TRAFFIC.

NOTHING in the history Of the East IndianRailway has been more remarkable than thegrowth Of the coal traffic during the past1 5 years . Up to the year 1889 few hadrecognised its immense possibilities , and

there was certainly nO idea of a great exporttrade setting in, while internal requirementswere comparatively small and restrictedalmost entirely to the needs Of railways.There seems to have been at the outset agood deal Of prejudice on the part Of thosewho had previously burnt Welsh coal

,and

particularly on the part Of the engineers Of

the larger steamship companies,against the

introduction Of Bengal coal in Its placethese prejudices were only overcome bydegrees

,but once a start had been made the

import Of coal from the United Kingdomwas doomed . In the first half Of the year1 885 , more than tons Of Welsh coalwere imported into Calcutta, during the firsthalf Of 1889 the quantity imported droppedto less than tons, and an export tradethen started, principally in bunker coal forthe use Of the steamers Of the British IndiaSteamNavigationCompany, which extended

FACILITI ES NEEDED FOR GROWING TRAFFIC 16 1

even more rapidly than the most san uine

anticipated. In 1890 the growth 0 the

export of Bengal coal from Calcutta firstattracted serious attention, though in prOportion to the total downwards traffic theexport figures were still comparatively small.Rangoon was the port which at first tookthe largest quantity Bombay

, which is nowthe largest taker of Bengal coal

,adherin

gIvery largely to the Welsh product untsome years afterwards.In 189 1 the want of facilities for dealin

with a large coal traffic were recognisecfThe Traffic Manager, Mr. J . Rutherford

,

commenting on the expansion which wouldfollow the opening up Of numerous mines inthe Coalfields adj acent to Asansol and Sitarampur and Of the Jherriah field

,an exten

sion to which was then about to be started,remarked that we have neither the wagonstock nor the terminal accommodation re

quired for such an access ion to our trafi c,”

and strongly advocated the construction bythe Railway Company Of special j etties andloading machinery at a point on the riverbelow the Botanical Gardens, to which heproposed a short branch line Should be runfrom Bally Station, a few miles above theHowrah terminus. The u wards coal trafficwas also owing, the di erent railways inthe Nort -West, Oudh and Punj ab wereconsuming more, though the use Of coal fordomestic purposes was nominal, and inplaces

H, EIR 11

162 HISTORY OF THE R. I . RAILWAY.

like Cawnpore,which was rapid] becoming

the internal centre Of commercialr

enterprise,wood was still burnt extensively inpreference.

In the year 1893 the export trade fromCalcutta had grown to about tons,and towards the close Of the year

, the

Kidderpore Docks,constructed for the

receipt Of ordinary merchandise, were firstbrought into use for loading export cargoesOf Coal . It was , however, anticipated thatthe docks would not at all meet the requirements Of the trade, and that if the rapidlygrowing business was to be dealt with there ,considerable additions would be needed,

while the railway approaches would alsohave to be improved. The opening Of thedocks to export coal traffic at once broughtthe Jubilee Bridge over the Hooghly intouse ; previous to this time it had been moreor less a white elephant, for very littlebusiness Of any kind had been done at the

docks . In the second half Of 189 2 abouttons of all classes of traffic were

carried over the bridge, in the second half of1893 the weight rose to tons

, Of

which two- thirds were coal . In 1894 therewas a still further advance in the ex rt coaltrade

,and General Sir Richard trachey

forecast, in an address to the Shareholders Of

the Company, what the future was likely tobe : There is no possible reason,

”he

remarked, why the whole Of the coal nowexported from England, whether required



forth, but relief was only tOO tardily grantedin some cases and declined altogether inothers . Addressing the Shareholders in

June 1897 , General Sir Richard Stracheysaid

There can be little doubt that the Bengal coal trade hasa great future before it, and that its increasing requirementswill demand constant attention and a further cons iderabledevelopment Of the means of transport and facilities forshipping for export. I cannot think that the ex rt of coalon a large scale, and I would remind on that it as alreadyrisen to more than half a million 0 tons in the half ear,

can be conveniently or economically carried on from ockedesigned tomeet the requirements of the ordinary export andimport trade of a commercial centre likeCalcutta. I t is therefore inmy opinionamatter Of regret that amore comprehensive view of this question has not been taken and thatarrangements have not beenmade, as was proposed by theBoard some years a O

, for establishing a system of coal export.more closely fol owingwhat experience.on a very largescale in this country, has shown to be best suited for thisspecial class of business. The wisdom of the policy of extending the coal lines inBengal , towhich theBoard havebeenable to give effect by constructing the Jherriah and Toposi

branches, is now fully established. and the new collieries onthem are already contributing not far froma million tons ayear to the traffic of the undertaking.”

In subsequent addresses General SirRichard Strachey referred , over and overagain, to the pressing needs for better facilitiesand formore rolling stock, and over and overagain defended the management of the railway against the not infrequent attacks Of themercantile community, whose complaints Of

want ofwagons, or of blocks Of traffic, resulting, as they alleged, in loss of business

,were

at the time common. At a meeting Of theshareholders held in December 1901 , the

RISE IN COAL SHARES. 165

Chairman spoke very plainly,and his words,

which proved most prophetic , are worthquoting. He saidAs the coal owners of Bengal are among the most per

sistent of those who exclaim against the managementof the East Indian Railway, and of the want of attentionpaid to their interests , I will venture to call their attentionto the following statement Of the present value Of the coalroperties in Bengal, properties that, as l have already said ,

have been entirel created by the initiative Of the railway ,and the continue prosperity of which has been ensured byequally constant attention to their requirements . The ex

tremely low rates at which coal has been carried on all

Indian railways for the last ten years is also due to the ac

tion Of the East Indian Railway the opening out Of the

Jherriah coalfield, which was opposed by the GovernmentOf India, was at last sanctioned by anappeal to the Secretaryof State by the Board.

”

Present value of shares in Bengal Coal CompaniesPaid up Quotation.

Rs . Rs .

Adjai 100 250-255

BengalBengal-Nagpur 10 30§Borrea 100 155

Barrakur 100 125

Equitable 100 262

Katras -Jherriah 10 40sNew Beerbhoom 100 179

Reliance 100 190

I have no wish ,” he added, to be a rophet of evil, butthere is an opinion afloat, which seems eserving Of seriousattention, that the ve rapid development of the coal trade,accompanied, as it has een, by this remarkable inflation ofvalues, may be the forerunner Of a season of speculativemining enterprise, and of over production, in excess of thegrowing requIrements of the public.

”

Within a year ofthe time these words werespoken their truth became apparent, theoutput of the collieries became much largerthan a market could be found for and share


quotations declined with a run. Fortunathe check was only a temporary one. and

ground was soon regained.

Nothing, however, will better illustrate therapid growth of the coal traffic than thefollowing briefstatement, shewing the weightcarried and the earnings during periods separated by five years

Year.

Rs.

,404,7l l 303,9 l0 notbgvail

a e.

144

1

2 382 79 ,5 l ,47213539585

6 264

These figures speak for themselves,and

call for no comment beyond the remark thatthey are an eloquent testimony to the partplayed by the East Indian Railway Company . In the early days Ofdevelopment allusion was Often made to the undertakmghavmg what was termed a monopoly of thetransport, and it was clearly intimated thatsuch a mono Oly was prejudicial to development. TheHoard ofDirectors naturally tookexception to such views

,unsupported as they

were by facts,and in 1894 expressed their

opInion very clearly in the following wordsA mon

agpoly that is used to keepupprices to the detri

ment of tr e cannot be too strongly deprecated, but such anecessary monopoly as that enjoyed by the East Indian



another field within its territory, namely theDalton nj field in the Sasseram District,150mi es nearer the north -west than thecoalfields of Bengal pro er. This field was

also opened up by the ast Indian RailwayCompau and now forms an additional sourceOf supp y. Although it has not, so far ,proved Of any great value, still its openinggoes to prove that the Company has at heartthe interests Of the public.For some years the coal trafi c has been

Of such importance to the East Indian Railway that an annual report on its principalfeatures is submitted to the Home Board.

It need only be added that in every directionefforts are made to comply, as fully as possible

,with the wishes of the coal owners for

modifications of the traffic arrangementsthat they regard as likely to be beneficial ,but difficulties in the way can only beovercome by degrees

,however willing the

management may be to carry them through .

CHAPTER XVII.

THE KIDDERPORE DOCKS.

AT the time that General Strachey was

appointed Chairman Of the East IndianRailway Company , the Kidderpore Docks werebeing constructed and there was muchdiscussion as to the rates that would becharged on traffic booked to and from thenew terminus.The Jubilee Bridge across the Hooghly

River had been opened for traffic a short timebefore

,and trains were runnin over it as

far as the Chitpore and Sea dah terminiOf the Eastern Bengal Railway in Calcutta,a provisional arrangement having been cometo, under which traffic carried to thesestations should be charged the same as ifcarried to the East Indian Railway terminusOf Howrah and vice versa.

It was agreed that no compulsion shouldbe used to force ships into the docks, and

therefore all facilities at Howrah , which inthe course Of years had become the established centre for the receipt and despatch Of

merchandise, had to be preserved intact.Beyond this the East Indian Railway was

saddled with the interest on the cost of theJubilee Bridge , for which until then it had

170 HI STORY OF THE E. I . RAILWAY.

received practically no compensation, whileextensive alterations and additions hadbecome necessary at Hooghly Junction,

in

order to enable the railway to make u fulltrain loads for the termini on the GalbuttaSide Of the river . Therefore the question Of

the rates to be charged on traffic hauled byEast Indian Railway trains to the Kidderpore Docks was an important One.

The Government OfIndia held the opinionthat there should not be any difference in

freight charges on up country through goodsconsigned to or from Calcutta

, whether theyare dealt with at Howrah or at Kidderpore”,

but the Eastern Bengal Railway Company,over which the trains had to be hau led tothe docks

,claimed a rate Of two rupees per

train mile on every East Indian Railwaytrain passing Naihati Junction

,and the

Board could not see their way to paying so

excessive a rate and at the same time making no addi tional charge to the public.

The Board,however, wished to do all in

their power to assist the trade Of the port,

and therefore proposed to the Governmentthat if for East Indian Railway trains run

ning to Sealdah , Chitpore or the KidderporeDocks the Eastern Bengal Railway Company would accept one rupee per train mileon the actual distance run, they on theirpart would be prepared to Charge the publicthe same rate to any Of these places as toHowrah .



addressing the Shareholders said : NO

perceptible effect has yet beenproduced on thetrade arrangements Of Calcutta by the partial O ening Of the docks, to which very fewvesse have hitherto resorted . Difficultieshave arisen

,that had not been foreseen,

in

inducing traders to modify the practice thathas hitherto prevailed, as to loading and

unloading ShIps, when lying at theirmoorings in the river

,by means Of lighters ,

and these have not yet been so far overcomeas to bring about any general movement Of

the export trade to the docks, to meet whichall requisite preliminary arrangements havebeen made. It is

,however , hardl likely

that an alteration Of system can be verylong delayed.

”

It was in 1 89 8 that, in consequence of ablock Of wheat at Howrah, the traffic wasfor a few days diverted to the docks , onlyto block the shed accommodation there alsoand in 189 9 the docks actually declined toreceive grain and seeds except under restrictions, as the authorities feared a repetitionOf their Sxperience of the previous year, afear that was shared by the merchantswho had suffered from the resultingconfusion.

The aversion on the part Of the trade toutilising the accommodation at the dockswas in no way due to the action Of the EastIndian Railway ; on the contrary the EastIndian Railway had done all in its power to

DOCKS NOT AT FIRST USED FOR GRAIN OR SEEDS. 1 73

promote the use Of the Sheds available there ;at the mercantile community did littleto overcome difficulties, although it was a

matter Of vital interest to them, for the

trade Of the port was burdened to providemeans for paying the interest on the capitalOutlay and the cost Ofmaintaining the docks ,from which no advantage was being Obtained.

It is certainly difficult,” the Chairman had

said in 1 89 3 , for any one like myself,not

acquainted in detail with the circumstances Ofthe case

,not to feel surprise that the mercan

tile community, which would seem to be SO

greatly interested in this matter, shou ld treatit with such apparent indifference . GeneralStrachey repeatedly advocated measures toassist the trade of Calcutta, by transferringthe bulk of the export and import work tothe docks

,but it was years before the change

was accomplished,and then more by the force

of Circumstances than by the action Of

those most interested. And in the meantime , year after year , as regularly asthe season came round for exporting grainand seeds, the Howrah terminus becameblocked and the East Indian Railway con

gested with trafi c. For this the Eastndian Railway management was invariablyblamed , though it was repeatedly explainedthat the blocks Of traffic were actually due tono fault on the part Of the railway

,but

were caused by the consignees of goodsbeing unable or unwilling to tak e defixxerg

1 74 HISTORY OF THE E. I . RA ILWAY.

at Howrah , on the arrival Of the wagonscarryin the goods . In 189 9 General SirBichar Strachey remarked that notwith

s tanding the efforts made to attract theexport trade from Howrah to the docksthe bulk Of it is still dealt with at Howrah

,

partly because the dock charges are inmany cases in excess Of those incurred byshipping with boats from Howrah

,but

mainly owing to a large number Of theUp

- country traders finding the Howrahterminus to be more convenient, as it offersfacilities for certain classes Of export producechanging hands which the conditions Of thetrade require .

In 1901 a change came over the scene,only a small portion of the export producepassing through the docks, the Howrahterminus became, as usual , as full as itcould be , and some measure of relief had tobe decided upon. The Wheat and SeedsAssociation and the principal export firmswere consulted , and with their assent it wasdecided to temporarily close Howrah to thereceipt Of linseed. The experiment provedsuccessful, the linseed went to the docks

,

and ever since then the docks have beenthe chief centre for the export Of linseed,while a considerable proportIOn Of thewheattrade is also dealt with there .During the year 189 7 the total traffic

crossing the Jubilee Bridge amounted to

tons ; in 1901 the figures rose to


CHAP TER XVIII.

TRAIN SERVICE AND WORKING FACILITIESTHE QUESTION OF WAGON SUPPLY.

WHEN General Strachey visited India in1889 he found that the train service wasexceedingly slow. What was described asthe fast train” took no less than 375 hoursto cover the distance Of 9 54 miles betweenHowrah andDelhi, that is to say, it trundledalong at a through speed of little more than25 miles an hour ; while consignments of

goods occupied weeks in transit where theyshould have taken days.Everything in the way of progress seemedto have been neglected, nothingwas up todate. The stations were not Interlocked ;the out - door signals and the train Signallingapparatus were Of the most primitive kind ;passenger carriages were illuminated withvegetable Oil lamps, which onlyserved tomakedarkness visible, and not a single engine orvehicle was fitted with a vacuum brake. In

addition to this, the conditions Of workingwere risky, if not dangerous, for over thegreater ortion of the line following trainswere al owed, and it was only over a comparatively short section of double line thatthe absolute block” system was in force .

IMPROVEMENT OF TRAIN SERVICE . 177

With such a state ofaffairs there was Obviouslya crying need for remedy.

General Strachey durIng his stay in Indiawrote

.a note on the speed of the mail trains

,

in which he drew attention to the excessivenumber Of stop

pages en route, and suggested a

revised time le. This time - tablewas shortlyafterwards ado ted and reduced the run Of themail between owrah and Delhi from 37A} to3 1 -5 hours . At the same time he insistedupon an immediate revision Of the goods trainservice

,with the result that, early in 1890, a

fast through goods trainwas run fromHowrahto Cawnpore , and a very great saving effectedin the time of transit of through bookedgoods ; but even these improvements werenot sufficient, and as soon as the Chairmanreturned to England, the Boardwrote suggesting further accelerations. Ever Since thenthe Chairman has continued to devote personal attention towards effecting improvements ; he has closely watched the runningof trains, commenting each half ear on thetime actuall taken over the digerent sections Of the ins , SO that the staff know wellthat punctuality Of the train service is considered all important in addition to thisthere has been no measure towards improvement . that has not had his cordial support.At the present time the absolute blocksystem is in force throughout the entirelength of the line ; all coaching vehicles arefitted with vacuum automatic brakes ; goods

H, ms 12.


vehicles are being so fitted and their carryingcaipacity has been materially increased ; themajority Of stations are either interlockedor are being interlocked ; the signalling hasbeen greatly improved and the train servicehas been very much accelerated. The mailtrain, with a load equal to eighteen heavycoaches, now runs from Howrah to Delhi in281} hours, and lighter trains have been run

over the same distance in very little morethan 24 hours. Such speeds would havebeen im ssible even five years ago, for ittook a ong time to carry out the manyimprovements required, to enable the staff inIndia to work up to such results.In the meantime the difficulties to becontended with

, whenever traffic was at allbrisk

,were enormous . Y ear after year the

line below Asansol became blocked withtrains, that could not be got through becausethe terminals were glutted with goods, and

because there was an utter absence Of properfacilities for dealing with the traffic thathad grown with such rapidity. Progressseemed Slow, but by the year 1 902 , such improvements had been effected that an exceptionally heavy traffic was carried, for thefirst time, without congestion. The GeneralTraffic Manager in his report on the resultsOf the working during the first half Of thatyear remarked

Perhaps themost satisfactory feature of the half-year’straffic was that even when at its highest, we were able to



An increas ed train load meant fewer, butheavier trains, fewer engines, fewer brakevans and a considerable saving in coal andstaff thi s question is only mentioned here asone of the causes that have facilitated thepassing of a heavy traffic over the line,though this perhaps is the leas t importantsequence of a measure that has resulted inmost important economies.Speakin to the shareholders in 1903,

General ir Richard Strachey referred tothe improved conditions Of working in theseterms

There is every reason to think that the improvements Ofvarious descri tions in the system Of signalling and in

providing for t emore expeditious movement of the trafi c,

which have been in steady progress for some years past,have proved their value by increased freedom from obstructions, and facility in dealing with the traffic on the busiestparts Of the line. Increased attention is bein

°

ven to thegreat importance Of improving the train loarfs, y which itis anticipated that large reductions in the trainmileagemaybe secured and corresponding economies, both in the cost ofrunning and of the rolling stock required for the trafi cmoved .

A word may here be said on the questionOf wagon Stock. Following the rapiddevelopment of traffic and particularly of thecoal trafi c which has been the most markedfeature , in recent years, of the Company’sadministration, there have been constantdifliculties in regard to the suppl Of locomotives, wagons and brake-vans. Within thepast few years the locomotive and brake -vandifficulty has been overcome, the line is no

WAGON STOCK. 181

longer congested. whenever traffic is brisk

and engine or brake- van shortage is hardly,if ever, heard Of but still the wagon upplycontinues inadequate. At the present timevery bitter complaints are being made, moreespecially by those interested in the coaltrade, that stock requirements are not met in

the way they Should be .

In the year 1900 the wagon stock of theEast IndianRailway was under wagons , in 1905 it was over wagons ; inother words

,thewagon stockhas been increas

ed by about 24 per cent in five years. Theweight of goods traffic, including coal , hasincreased during the same period by 2 1 percent, yet during some period or anotherthere has been shortage Of stock.

There is,certainly, a reverse side to the

picture whenever traffic at all slackens hundreds Of wagons lie idle in sidin S, and it isa fact that the traffic Of the ast IndianRa ilway fluctuates very greatly. It is doubtful whether the railway could possiblyprovide a stock equal to all demands atperiods of highest pressure ; it is doubtfulwhether any railway in the world of likes ize has ever been able to do so. Certainlyshortness of stock due to rushes Of traffic, orto congestion Of the line , or to block at theterminals or elsewhere

,is not peculiar to the

East IndianRailway. We have heard of thesame sort Of thing happening in America onsome of the best equipped lines, and SO long


railways exist,and have to be worked at a prO

fit, as indeed all commercial enterprises mustbe, shortness of stock will occasionally be felt.Could the traffic of the East Indian Rail

way be evenly distributed over every weekOf the year

,we should never hear Of short

ness of stock,but this is clearly impossible,

and admitting that there is even occasionalShortage

,the question arises, what surplus

should be provided in order to meet requirements when traffic is above normal, forobviously there should be some surplus . A s

a general basis of regulating supply, it hasbeen calculated that every wagon shouldcarry 7 ton miles Of traffic in half a

year ; this means a very full use Of the

available stock . Still it has been worked to,and sometimes exceeded in the past, and is,perhaps

,a sufficiently liberal allowance for

the future . There are times, however,when an excessive number Of East IndianRailway wagons have to be sent away withloads to ForeignRailways, and when ForeignRailway wagons are not coming to any greatextent on to the East Indian ; at thesetimes the margin of work required becomestoo tight. There are other times when thenature Of the traffic is such that the bestadvantage cannot be Obtained from the stockemployed ; then also there is shortage .

Moreover,it may be admitted that a railway

should be, within limits, ahead of require

ments rather than behind them, but up to


CHAPTER XIX.

SOME FURTHER REMARKS on COMPETITIONAND RATES.

ALTHOUGH the low charges at present inforce on the East Indian Ra11way are mainlydue to the liberal policy followed in voluntarily reducing the rates for such items as coal,still it must not be forgotten that a faminein Bengal first directed attention to theposs ibility Of carrying trafi c

,over long dis

tances, at charges which were previously considered impossible, and that competition hasalso had its effect on the tariff.It has been shown that serious competition

against the East IndianRailway began, whenthe opening Of the Rajputana route to Bombay first threatened Calcutta with the divers ion of the trade Of the Upper Provinces.But the East IndianRa ilway has not had tocontend with the rivalry Of the Westernlines alone it has also had to meet the competition Of various alternative railway routesand Of rivers

,canals and roads . TO talk

therefore Of the East IndianRailway havingamonopoly Of traffic shows a strange misconception Of facts.Before the East Indian Ra ilway has run

150miles Of its course from Calcutta it gets

RIVER COMPETITION . 185

in touch with the River Ganges, the mainwaterway of Bengal, on which a service of

competing steamers is ever read to conveytraflic to and from the metropolis, at ratesfar below those which would be profitable tothe railway. That the railway is able tocompete with these steamers is mainly due tothe speedier transit it can offer and to the factthat during the monsoons, when steamersare best able to ply, the Railway is

generally experiencing a slack time and is ina position to make special concessions inrates. These rates, known as monsoonrates, are successful in drawing to the raila Share of the trade which it would otherwise lose, but in any case the direct effectis reduction.

As to native boats,these attempt to

carry all they can from any source, but whilethey take something away they also brings omething to the rail, and therefore may beregarded as feeders as well as competitors .

It was in order to enable country boats tobring produce to the rail direct that branchlines were originally constructed to all themore important ghats on the river bank ; and,on the whole

,although the river has been

the cause ofmany rate reductions, it is reallyone of the best friends of the railway. Theriparian stations on the East Indian Railwayare among its most important.Before the railway gets beyond the effect Ofriver competition it has to contend with the


claims of the Western lines which are alwaystrying to draw to Bombay the trafi c whosenatural port is Calcutta. This competitionbegins within 500 miles of Calcutta and

extends over the whole length Of the railwayabove

,including of course the Jubbulpore

line,where, perhaps, the Eastl ndianRailway

position is weakest.The influence Of competition is also felt

with the Bengal -Nagpur Railway running byan alternative route to Kutni Station on

the Jubbulpore branch with the Oudh and

Rohilkhand Railway and connected systemsrunning almost parallel, and tapping the EastIndian at several points ; with the Bengaland North -Western which has gradually butsurely extended its system on the otherSide Of the River Ganges

,and affects rates

as high up as Delhi and even beyondwith the Southern Punjab and NorthWestern Railways which endeavour to drawtraffic to Kurrachee ; not to mention railwayswhich have been permitted to constructalternative routes, within the sphere Of Eas tIndian Railway control

,such as the Agra

Delhi Chord and that greatest Ofall blunders,

the Cawnpore -A chneyra line. It would forma history in itself to trace the effect of all thecompetition the East Indian Railway has tomeet, to discuss the several agreements cometo with foreign lines and to disentanglethe many disagreements and even if thiswas done it would not be of great interest to



if there is some loss by the diversion of trafficfrom the East Indian Railway that, in theabsence Of other lines

,itmight have retained ,

it is beyond question that any such result islargely compensated, if not actually counterbalanced

,by the increased traffic due to the

openin up Of communication with districtsformer y inaccessible .” At the same time ,the Board, while recognisin that the traflicwhich is directed from the orth -West Provinces towards Bombay, should be providedwith whatever facilities it may require,fail to see why the East Indian Railways hould be left powerless to respond to reduc

tions because they are bound by a commonminimum

,although they can afford to carry

a t cheaper rates than any other line in India .

If, as the Secretary Of State says, “ theadvantages due either to geographical position or other circumstances should furnishno reason for artificial restrictions , then whatcan be said Of the restriction of a minimumrate,

when a railway can Carry at a profitbelow that minimumThen again,

although the Board declinedto recognise the claim Of the railways ,d esigned to carry the traffic Of Centraland Western India,

to interfere in thecarrying trade between places like Agraand Delhi

,which ever Since the opening Of

the East Indian Railway has been exclus ively in its hands, yet the GovernmentO f India have recently given to one of its

THE PUBLIC AND THE RATE QUESTION . 189

opponents the construction and working Of

the Agra-Delhi Chord.

It is suggested that these and Similarquestions are those to which the public of

Calcutta Should direct their best attention,

realizing that their interests are identicalwith those Of the East Indian Railway.

CHAPTER XX.

THIRD CLASS PASSENGERS.

THIRD class passengers constitute a verylarge proportion of the coaching traflic Of

the East IndianRailway ; they provide nineteentwentieths Of the total passenger trafficand account for four-fifths Of the coachingreceipts. Recognising that the prosperityOf the coaching traffic mainly depends uponits lowest class passengers, the attentionO f the Board Of Directors and Of the staff inIndia has always been directed towardsmeasures for the development and con

venience Of this class.In the year 1 882 , the third class fare hadbeen reduced under the directions of theBoard from 3 to 25 pies, or to , say, one-fifth

Of a penny per mile, but the question of

making a further reduction in the charge was ,from the time Of his appointment as Chairman

,constantly in the mind Of General Sir

Richard Strachey ; unfortunately there wereconsiderations that necessitated delay in

carrying out his views nothing could be donebefore the railway was prepared with additional rollingstock, and it was on this accountalone that concessions had to be givencautiously.



they would desire to adopt, from their inability to provide the additional carriages, withoutwhich this could not be undertaken,

but asmall advance in this direction has beenmadeby . reducing the rates for long distances .

”

In his A ddress in December 1904, GeneralStrachey remarked in regard to the thirdclass With a V iew to stimulating the chiefbranch Of the traffic, the Board have takensteps for a further reduction Of third classfares for distances above 100miles, and are

prepared to carry out further reductions whenproper provision is made for the addition tothe carriage stock, which, itmay be presumed,will be necessary to meet the requirements Ofthe increased traffic likely to follow the reduction Of fares.”

The reduction in third class fares referred towas , like the coal rates, based on a Slidingscale, according to the length of journeymade.For the first 100miles the fare Of 2 4k piesper mile remained as at present, the scalefor longer distances being, on the additionallength travelled

101 to 300miles, 2 pies per mile,over 300miles, 15 pie

Further reductions will probably be madeon the same basis of a sliding scale, and

may be looked for as soon as the railway isbetter equipped with coaching stock. Uto the present additions to the rolling stoc

MR. BELL’

S PROPOSED ONE AND A HALF PIE FARR 193

have barely kept pace with the normalOf the trafi c. The East Indianhas never been ahead Of require

ments, it has never had a margin to meetany lar e accession Of passengers, and duringtimes 0 pressure third class carriages haveto be supplemented by goods wagons ; thisstate of affairs is most undesirable, but it isObvious that, unless large additions are madeto the coachin

g)stock, it must either continue

or sen ers e turned awayKa

gart mm the consideration Of the question In England, in India also the third class

passenger has had constant attention. As farack as 1 893 there was much controversy ona roposal made by the late Mr. HoraceBe then Consulting Engineer to theGovermnent of India, that a very sweepingreduction in the fare Of the lowest classShould be made. Mr. Bell proposed a fareOf 1% ie per mile, but his proposal met

with litt e or no acceptance it was rejectedby the Director-General Of Railways

,by

the President Of the Railway Conference,

and b several managements, who all considered

,

it not only Utopian but impossible.Beyond this was the fact that the thirdclass passenger traffic was rapidly growingunder the tariff introduced in 1882 , and thata 1; pie rate tried on the Madras Railwayhad proved a failure .It must never be forgotten, however, thatIndia is a country Of poor people and that

H,EIR 13


when the average wage of the population is

considered , in relation to the fares nOW

charged, it means that only about 2 1 miles canhe travelled for an average day’s earnings. In

America the third class enger can travelabout 60 miles for a «K? S wage

, and in

England about 40 miles. Therefore thefares in India Should be as low as theypossibly be made, and in time it is hoped thatmaterial reduction will be possible .

Taking periods Of 5 years from 1882 , thefollowing figures shew the number Of thirdclass passengers carried and the earningstherefrom on the East Indian RailwaysystemYear .

1882 E. 1 . Proper.

1887 do.1892 E. I . Ry . System.

189 7 do.

1902 do.

1905 do.

Besides reductions in fares charged, othersteps have from time to time been takentowards improving the facilities for travellingin the third class. In 1 897 , under the directorders Of the Chairman, the mail trainswere thrown open to third class passengers ;previous to this the main line mail trainsbelow A llahabad only carried higher class passengers , and their servants. Then again thetype Of carriage has been greatly improved

,

separate vehicles have been provided for

women,and lavatories are a feature of


CHAPTER XXI .

PROPOSED CENTRAL STATION IN CALCUTTA.

IN a previous chapter reference has beenmade to a proposal , made in 1862 , to bridgethe Hooghly River, as near as possible toCalcutta

,and to construct in the metropolis

a central terminal station, SO as to form amore perfect connection between the railway and the capital , and to afford the publica more convenient poInt for taking or leavingthe rail . In those days there was no bridgeOf any kind across the river, and passengersand goods had to be boated or ferried overthe Hooghly, to and from the railwaystation, an arrangement so inconvenient asto be more easily imagined than described ;it was then indeed a pilgrimageto get to orfrom the East Indian Railway Station atHowrah .

S ince then a floating road bridge hasbeen constructed and it is as easy to approach Howrah Station from say, Chowringhi

,as it is to drive from Oxford Circus to

Waterloo. But it is not the passengers or

goods from Chowringhi who need to be con

sidered ; they are in the minority, and itmakes little difference to them whether therailway station is in Howrah or inDalhousie

A COMMITTEE CONSIDERCENTRAL STATION SCHEME. 19 7

Square or in Bow Bazaar . The mass Of thepeople

,the great native population of

Calcutta, live on the North side Of the ciand for these Howrah is just as conveniensituated

,as it would be if the Site was

in the centre of the business part Of the town.

In 1 89 9 , however, the idea Of constructinga central station in Calcutta, which for some

gears had remained dormant, was revived.

rOposals were made by a Syndicate knownas the Calcutta Central Railway S dicate, and their proposals were cousi ered

f?a committee and ultimately by the

overnment Of India.

Briefly stated the Syndicate offered toconstruct a bridge

,with a central railway and

a central station,at an estimated cost Of 425

lakhs Of rupees,accepting a guarantee Of 2A

per cent on the capital employed, the re

venue to be derived from a toll ongoods andpassengers.The Committee who investigated the proposal agreed that a central railway stationwas preferable to maintaining differenttermini on the margin Of the town ; theyagreed that BOW Bazaar afforded thebest site ; the thought however that theexpense Should

ynot be defrayed in the man

ner proposed by the Syndicate , by the levyof tolls, but that the construction should beundertaken by the railways concerned, and

not b a separate Company. While theyconsidered it desirable to construct a railway


bridge over the Hooghly, and to connect therailways on the West and East banks, by aline running through the heart of the city,their approval was subject to the conditionthat the scheme was financially practicable.On the question Of the estimated cost and

Of the possible revenue there was muchdifference Of O inion, and ultimately theGovernment Of ndia informed the Syndicatethat their Offer, unsu ported as it was bythose most intereste namely, the publicof Calcutta

,could not be entertained.

In themeantime the Lieutenant-GovernorOf Bengal, who had given the question hismost careful consideration, made a counterproposal to develop the use Of Sealdah ,

”

the terminus Of the Eastern Bengal StateRailway on the Eastern border Of the city,as a passenger station for the traffic withUpper IndIa and for lessening the concentration Of traffic at Howrah by every practicable means.”

His views were summarized in these terms :

( 1) A railway bridge below Naihati is not at presentrequired when one is required it should not be built belowCossipore. The construction of any bridge on piers in thestream, at or near Howrah lwhether road or railwaybridge),would be an experiment so dangerous to the Ship Ing interests Of the port that it would not be justified, un see trafficcould be served by no other reasonable alternative.

”

(2) The plans for railways from West and North-West

of Calcutta should beprepared with this in View.

( 3) The development Of goods trafi c, rid the JubileeBridge, to and from the K idderpore Docks, for both exportsand imports , should be encouraged by all reasonable and

practical means .



has reached its present development fromany causes other than those arising from thenecessities Of the case, and the natural adaptation of the population of Calcutta and thesuburban towns, under the conditions Of

their various occupations and habits Of life ,to the conveniences Offered to them by therailway. It cannot be doubted that duringthe fifty years and upwards, during whichthe Howrah Station had formed the principal terminus of the East IndianRailway , the

population has settled itself locally, with anIntelligent appreciation Of the best means ofObtainIng the services Of the railway in theform most likely to be advantageous-to it.

The Board, however, were in noway averseto the use Of Sealdah as a supplementarystation to Howrah, they had in fact made a

papposal to this effect some years previously .

ey desired an experiment to be made bystarting at least one East Indian Railwaypassenger train from Sealdah instead Of fromHowrah, but circumstances prevented thetrial

,and it is remarkable that there has

never been any public expression,on the part

Of any section of the Calcutta population, Of

the need Of a direct train service from Sealdah to stations on the East Indian Railway .

The Board quite concurred with the viewOf the Lieutenant-Governor Of Bengal thata central station was not needed. Calcuttais an essentially terminal station for all therailways that centre there , and no such

CENTRAL STATION IMPRACTICABLE. 201

transfer Of passenger orgoods traffic from

station to station takes p ace in Calcutta,with a V iew to subsequent transmission overother lines

,as is often the case at other large

centres Of population at which railway junctions take place.There is in fact no valid reason for a

common passen er station for all lines centering in Calcutta, and though a central station and a railway bridge connectin Howrahand Calcutta would undoubtedly fima convenience, the cost Of providing it is far toogreat to bring it within practicable reach.

What is wanted is a suitable and commodious station at Howrah

,and this at last is

being constructed, though, unfortunately, theGovernment Of India have on] sanctionedpart Of what the East Indian Railway originally proposed . as necessary to meet the

!aun

trequirements of themselves and Of the

engal -Nagpur Railway Company.

CHAPTER XXII .

PROVIDENT INSTITUTION.

THE establishment Of the East IndianRailway Provident Institution was theoutcome Of a desire , on the part Of the Boardof Directors, to assist their employés to makesome provision for the period Of their Oldage after retirement from the service

,or for

their families in the event Of their rematuredeath , and in a general way it foflowed theidea Of the Superannuation Funds connectedwith the various English Railways .The Institution was formally inaugurated

with effect from l st January 186 8 and fromthat date membership was made a conditionOf service

,men already in the service being

allowed the option Of j oining or not, as theypleased. In the first instance the membership consisted Of two classes— A and B

the one representing employés Of Europeandomicile and the other those representingother classes Of employés drawing salaries Ofnot less than Rs . 30per meh sem. The subscriptions were 5 per cent and 2Aper cent Ofsalaries respectively , and the Companyundertook to add annual contributionsthereto

,provided the annual net earnings



equivalent to 87 per cent. Of the total amountat credit of each member on the books on3 1st December 1874, there was a universalfeeling Ofgratification throughout the service,more especially among those members whohad adhered to the Fund from the date Of

its inception and whose tenacity and loyaltywere thus so substantially and unexpectedlyrewarded.

The posItion continued in this state until1 880when the first contract Of the undertakin ex ired

,and the then Agent, Sir

Brad ord eslie,represented that the division

of the membershI into two Classes and

the limitation Of sugscriptions to salaries Of

not less than Rs. 30 per meh sem created anundesirable distinction

,which pressed hardly

upon a large body Of the Company’s employésThis representation was accepted by theBoard Of Directors

,and from 1st January

188 1 , the previous class distinctions wereabolished

,andmembership was eligible to all

employés drawing a monthly salary OfRS . 1 5

and upwards , the general rate Of subscription being fixed at 5 per cent. This rate wasmade compulsory, and as a further incentiveto thrift, each member was permitted to add

an additional subscription limited to a maximum Of a further 5 per cent on salary,such optional subscriptions ranking for

participation in the contributions by the

undertaking— which at this time weredeclared half-yearly instead Of annually as

NEW RULES INTRODUCED . 205

before— to the extent Ofthe available surplusafter all compulsory subscriptions had beencredited a sum equivalent to cent. per cent.thereon.

The introduction Of these new rulesinvolved the division Of contributions on thesum Of the annual subscriptions, instead of, asheretofore, on the sum Of the gross holdingsof members, thus placing Old and new

members onthe same footing, without regardto length Of service and accumulations in theFund . This action was resented by a largebody Of the Older members Whose profits werethereby considerably diminished . The opinionofActuaries was taken,

and after a full cousideration Of the case Of the Older members,the Board accepted the V iew that their legalrights had been to some extent invaded and

allowed them a grant Of Rs . as

compensation.

From this time— l stJanuary 188 1 to 3othJune [ 903— the annual contributions by theundertaking admitted Of the addition tomembers’ accounts, Of sums equivalent to theirannual subscriptions and a further considerableaddition in respect of Optional subscriptions.In the meantime, some other Indian

railways had adopted a fixed compulsoryrate Of subscription Of 8§ per

'

cent. Of salaryoptional subscriptions being at the same timepermissible,

fpra

cticallywithout limit

,up to

the extent O salary, but debarred from participation in any share Of the contributions, and


it was found . on studyingthe cases referredto, that the basis Of contrIbution, ifauthorizedfor adoption on the East Indian Railway

,

would admit Of larger contributions, eventhough the actual amount Of monthlysubscrIptions were reduced from 10 to 8}per cent. On a representation Of thec ircumstances , the Board OfDirectors and theSecretary Of State for India sanctioned theapplication Of these new rules to the EastIndian Railway, and they were accordinglyadopted with effect from l st July 1903 ; the

result to members who acce ted them beingthat the have since that ate received asan annuafcontribution to their assets in theFund a sum exactly equivalent to one

month’s pay— neither more nor less— and

with the growing prosperity Of the EastIndian Railway undertaking there seems tobe every prospect Of this state Of thingsbeing prolonged indefinitely.

N O statement of the history Of the Eas tI ndian Railway Provident Institution wouldbe complete which omitted mention Of thefact that it has already proved an invaluableboon to hundreds Of retired East IndianRailway employés and their families, and thatit deserves the fullest and most gratefulrecognition on the part of those who mayconfidently look forward to the benefits whichit ensures on retirement. Still it does not doto trust to the Provident Fund alone as asuflicient provision for the future, especially


CHAPTER XXIII .

HILL SCHOOL.

ON the purchase of the undertaking byGovernment on l st January, 1880, it was , as

already explained, found that a sum of overfour lakhs Of rupees remained at credit Ofthe Saving Bank and Fine Funds the former representing profits on working and thelatter the unexpended accumulations of fineslevied from the staff. It was at once recognized that these monies Should, ifpracticable,be devoted to some Object for the benefit ofthe staff, and there was little difficulty in

arriving at a unanimous decision, that the bestmeans Of securing this Object was the provision of a school

,in a temperate climate

, for

the education Of the childrenOf the Europeanand Eurasian employés. The Company hadalready provided and subsidised schools ateach of the large stations in the plains

,both

for the domiciled and the native staff,but

there was a demand, on the part Ofthe formerclass, for the benefits Of a Hill climate fortheir children during the hot Season and thequestionwas how this demand could best bemet. On the one hand, there were existiuscholastic institutions at such of the Hilstations as Darjeeling, Mussoorie, Naini Tal,

PURCHASE OF OAKGROVE ESTATE. 209

Murree,and Simla which might have served

the purpose,but either the character Of

endowments, or the scale of fees levied,

debarred the larger proportion Of the servantsOf the Company from Obtaining the advantageof these schools and it was felt that the onlyfeasible arrangement was to secure a purelyrailway school

,under the absolute control

Of the principal Officers of the Company.

The results obtained by the North -Western

(State) Railway from an experiment madein this direction at “Fairlawn” near Jhera

pani, a place situated about mid -way betweenRajpore and Mussoorie naturally attractedenquiries to that locality, and it happenedat this juncture that Oakgrove, a wellwooded and secluded estate, comprising 193acres Of land in the adjoining V icinity, wasin the market. This was purchased by theCompany for the comparatively small sumOf Rs . and arrangements were atonce made for erecting the requisite buildings . In June 1888, the school was openedwith a capacity for 2 10 pupils, having costwith the estate a sum of Rs. TheBoard having, at the outset, recognized thedisabilities under which the staff lay in

respect of the scale of fees charged by otheravailable institutions decided to set aparta further sum Of Rs. as an endowment towards payment Of the Teaching Staff

,

the one Object kept permanently in V iewbeing that the scale Of fees levied should be

H, EIR Vt


such that all members Of the staff could availthemselves Of the benefits Of the school . On

thesegrounds the scale was fixed at Rs . 1 4 for

the first Child, Rs. 1 2 for the second and RS . 10

for the third and other children per mensem,

a rate which , apart from the endowment and

such grants- ih - aid as could be Obtained fromGovernment, was Obviously inadequate to

cover the actual expenditure . This featureOf the scheme, though not ventilated by theCommittee Of Management, was apparentlyrecognized at the commencement by thestaff, andmany Of the better paid subordinateofficers declined to send their Children to

the school and main] it is believed, owinto this fact the num ers of the scholars didnot equal the capacity Of the school until189 5 . At this period applications exceededthe limits, and as there was still a balanceOfabout a lakh Of rupees remaining from thefunds before mentioned, itwas decided to purchase the adjoining Jherapani estate and

build a separate school for girls on the site.

This estate, comprising 52 acres Of land , liescontiguous to the Oakgrove” estate withoutany intervening boundaries, and on a favourable site Ou it, a well - built school for girlswas erected, capable Of accommodating 140scholars, and opened in the month of April1 897 . The total expenditure on the entireschool

,including the Hospital and Sani

tarium, Swimming Bath and Bakery havingcost Rs. including the endowment.



With the expiration Of the second contractbetween the Secretary Of State for India and

the East Indian Railway Company on 3 1stDecember 189 9 , the former secured to

Government under the third contract allproprietary rights in the school, but leftthe control and management Of it to theCompany.

For some years past, the school attendancehas , roughly speaking, been made up of an

equal number of East Indian and NorthWestern Railway children, and lately two

officers of the North -Western Railway havebeen

,at the instance of the East Indian

Railway Board Of Directors, added to thelist Of ex-ofi

‘icio Governors Of the school.The standard Of education at the school

has been well maintained throughout. Thepupils have taken a high place , and on morethan one occasion the fi rst place on the

Government examination lists for the wholeOf the United Provinces . The same mayalso be said Of the examinations for entranceto the Roorkee Engineering College Alarge percentage Of the ex -

pupils have foundsituations on the parent lines which theyrepresent, and have thus fulfilled the Oh

j ects for which the school was established.

Standing as it does at an elevation Of

feet above sea- level the climate Of the schoolis temperate : the site is salubrious and farfrom all insanitation, the entire estate beingabsolutely reserved for the purposes Of the

THE HILL SCHOOL A SUCCESS. 213

school. There is an excellent and purewater supply flowing directly to the school

,

through its iron pipes,direct from the

Mossy Falls springs.There Is a rifle-range and ample room for

out door ames , which are marked features ofthe schoofcourse, and a large swimming bath.

In every way the school i s simply butthoroughly equipped, and the Institution as awhole and the results obtained from it, forma most gratifyingvindication of the impulsewhich led to i ts inception and of the expend iture of the large sum of money which ithas entailed.

The constant aim of the governing bodyis not only to conserve, but, wherever

possible, to increase, the benefits conferredy the Institution, the most recent additionbeing the grant by the East Indian Railwayand North Western Railway undertakings ofRs. 5 ,000 each per annum towards the

foundation of scholarships and exhibitions,

tenable by the pupils of the school.

CHAPTER XXIV.

GENERAL GROWTH OF TRAFFIC.

IN the year 1 889 the total receipts from all

sources oftraffic amounted to RS.

in 1894 they were Rs. by 1 89 9they had gone up to RS. and

during 1905 they were no less thanRs .

In 1889 the percentage ofworking expensesto gross receipts were in 1894

in 189 9 and in 1 905

Nothing could speak more eloquently thanthese figures of the management of the EastIndian Railway ; with a great expansion of

traffic there has continued a marked economyinworking, and it was this result that GeneralSir Richard Strachey set himself to achievefrom the moment he assumed the Chairmanship. Addressing the Shareholders in 1890,he said : It was my aim, while in India toinculcate the absolute necessity for seekingbetter results so that while thegreatest practical economy was ensured

, the

varied interests, connected both with the passenger and oods service of the railway

,should

be constant y respected and their reasonabledemands complied with.

”Eight years later

he comments on what had by then been



to 187Alakhs of rupees. During the sameeriod, the aggregate recei ts of the Greatndian Peninsular

,the In anMidland, the

Bombay and Baroda,the Rajputana -Malwa

and Bengal -Nagpur Railways, the totallength worked on which was miles,amounted in all to 188i lakhs of rupees.

”

The traffic of the East Indian Railwayhas continued to give results immeasurablybeyond that of any other railway in India, andalthough this is in a large degree due to theenormous coal traffic carried, stillsion of other branches of traffic has alsvery considerable. Allowing for variationsin the wheat, grainand seed trade, due to thenature of the export demand or to famine orother cause

,there has been continuous and

marked development inpractically all classesand kinds of traffic, and this is a mostsatisfactory feature , as it is on the growth of

the general traffic,in all its branches, that

the Company must rely for its continuedprogress and prosperity

,rather than on the

expansion of any particular items .In the interval between the years 1 89 5

and 1 900, there were increases under thehead ofpassengers amounting to twomillionsin number ; undermerchandise to a littlemorethan one million tons ; and under coal tomore than two million tons, but, althoughit is necessary to found a review of theworking of the railway upon figures indicating numbers of passengers and quantities

VALUE OF THE RAILWAY To THE COUNTRY. 217

of goods carried, as well as the amount of

rupees earned ah d spent In the process, yetthi s does not truly indicate the value orimportance of the work done by the railwayfor the country.

To appreciate this, General Stracheyremarked in 1 901 , we must bear In mindthe enormous advantages given a vastpopulation, by the increasing facilities fortravelling over great distances which otherwise would have been practically imposs ible . The extent of this convenience i s

indicated by the fact that In the past halfyear more than eleven million persons havetravelled on the railway, ten millions ofwhom were of the less afl uent classes .S imilar considerations apply to the effect produced on the trade and material progress of

the country . The protection against theworst results of drought has been completeand could have been obtained by no othermeans . The facilities for the transport of

goods over considerable distances must haveincreased the otential wealth of the peopleby several millions sterling yearly, throughgiving the means of carriage, at very lowrates, and O enmgmarkets that would otherwise have beeninaccessible

,thus greatl

stimulating and”supporti

ng iiIternal as weisi

as export trade.The growth of traffic on the East IndianRailway has in a large measure been duetoattention to detail, and to the means taken

218 BIETORY or THE E . I . RAILWAY.

to stimulate the internal as well as the export trade of the country. Chan es in thehabits of the people have also ad theireffect on the traffic of the railway

,or to

put it in another way, the railway has

enabled the population to ado t measuresor to alter customs which, but or the railway, would never have been thought of.

This we see in many directions , but to takeone illustration only ; in the earl eightiesve etable oil

,locally manufacture was the

o y illuminant used by the masses ; a wagonload of kerosene oil was unknown, and onlya few cases

,for the use of Europeans and

the more wealthy natives,were carried.

Railway rates were reduced, and in 1889 theEast Indian railway carried a traffic of

tons— further reduction followed and,in 1 905 , the year

’s traffic in kerosene oilamounted to no less than tons

, a

considerable portion of which was carried inbulk

,for the carriage of which the Company

had in the meantime constructed specialstock . Nowadays kerosene oil may be purchased in any village in India, and the peopleburn practically nothing else . Similar re

marks might be made in respect to other details, and speaking of the great growth of

traffic since the formation of the line,the

money returns of the East Indian Railwayhaving durin 40 years increased more thana hundredfol General Strachey remarkedin 189 6 when it is remembered that the


CHAPTER XXV.

VARIOUS PROJECTS FOR DEALING WITH THE

ExpoRT COAL TRADE AND OTHER MATTERS.

MENTION has been made of a scheme toprovide coal jetties and loading appliances ata point on the River Hooghly adjacent tothe Botanical Gardens. The locality was

considered eminently suitable and convenientfor the purpose and the approach to it, fromthe vicinity of Bally StatIon, a short distanceabove Howrah

,could

,at the time it was

mooted, have been constructed Without interfering with valuable property

,so that the

expense was not likely to be unusually great.There was therefore some reason to hope thatthe Government would sanction the work,which, in the words of General Sir RichardStrachey, would supply the coal owners ofBengal, the means of giving to the exporttrade a development commensurate With thealmost inexhaustible supplies of the mineralwhich is within their reach and which it willbe the endeavour of the undertaking to

carry to the place of Shipment at the lowestpossible cost. ”

It was far from the object of the EastIndian Railway, either in connection Withthis scheme, or other proposeks put

from «a t

PROPOSED PORT ON THE MUTLAH. 221

to assist the trade of Calcutta, to obtainany exclusive advantage for the Company,or to go in any way beyond the properfunctions of a railway which,

according to

Sir Richard Strachey’

s policy, were to

extend to the utmost the means of transportfor the commercial community generally, andto support, within the sphere of theirlegitimate action

,all efforts made with this

object, however they may originate .”The

scheme, if it had been adopted, would haveassisted all railways bringing coal intoCalcutta for export, but unfortunatelydifferences of opinion arose as to the expe

diency of carrying out the proposal,and the

idea was abandoned.

Later on another scheme was putforward, which may in fact be said to

have been the revival , in another form, of a

very old project. Colonel Gardiner, theCompany’s Agent in Calcutta, recommendedthe construction of a subsidia port on theMutlah River, at a place called ort Canning,to Which a line of rail had already been con

structed, and where it was thought that theexport coal traflic could better be dealt withthan at the Kidderpore Docks, Which, it Willbe remembered

,were originally intended for

the export ofgrain and seeds but not of coal .Surveys were made, and it was then found

that the Mutlah had,ceased to be a river in

the ordinary sense of the term it had infact become a tidal estuary or am Oi Que


s ea, with a very deteriorated channel, ditficult to navi ate . The conclusion come to wasthat the i ea of establishing a coal exportdepot at such a place failed to ofi

'

er anyprospects of success. This scheme also wasabandoned.

Time went on, and the great growth of

the coal export trade proved how necessaryit was to afford some relief to the pressureon the resources of the docks. TheBengal -Nagpur Railway had not onlygained access to the Jberriah field, but hadextended their line mittMidnapur to a pointon the right bank of the Hooghly oppositeCalcutta, Immediately below the East IndianRa ilway Station of Howrah. Here theyhad established a wagon ferry, to et intodirect communication with the Ki derporeDocks ; in other words, a wagon loaded atany station on their system could be passedby their own route to the Kidderpore Dockswithout break of bulk. They also had accessto the docks vic’i Asansol and the JubileeBridge at Hooghly, but neither of theseroutes gave them all they wanted. Theyappeared to desire to wrest from the EastIndian Railway the bulk of the coal exporttrade, by constructing a line to a point on theHooghly some miles below Calcutta

,where

they proposed to establish docks,provided

with mechanical loading appliances and todivert the coal export trade to this point. The

place Where it was proposed to place this



THE LUFF POINT SCHEME.

The Luff Point Scheme is likely to develop into oneof themost momentous economicproblems ever placed before the Calcuttapublic, and it is well that its true issue and

effect on the trade of the port be considered,

before the Commission,which will Shortly

Sit, begins to take evidence . A little morethan two years have passed Since the Government decided to give the Bengal -Nagpur Railway access to the Jherriah coalfields . The coal trade had pressed for theadmission Of this line, because it was feltthat there would then arise a com etition

between the East Indian and Bengal agpur

Railways, and that as a result the freight oncoal would be reduced, and beyond this itwas thought that collieries would be put in a

more favourable position in regard to wagonsupply. The actual effect has been that theadvent of the Bengal -Nagpur Railway hasopened out a large additional area of supply

,

and this has helped materially to bring downthe sale price of coal whether colliery proprietors have really benefited is an openquestion, but at any rate they have attainedtheir object. In giving the Bengal -NagpurRailway access to the Jberriah field

, the

Government laid down as a principle thatthe collieries in the field

,wherever situated

,

might call for the wagons of whichever of

tb6 two railways they des'

med to consign

THE“ENGLISHMAN ON THE LUFF POI NT SCHEME. 225

their coal by, and the railways decided thatrates should be equal by both routes.Recently theGovernment held that neither

of the two railways, competin for the trafficunder these conditions, Shoul be allowed togo below the prescribed minimum rate of

116 th pie per maund per mile, and conse

uent on this decision the Bengal -Nagpurilway, which, in some instances, had gone

below the minimum,in order to equalize

charges with the Shorter route, mid the EastIndian Railway, enhanced its rates to thepublic

,not as might have been expected to

the minimum allowed , but in some cases toa great deal beyond. The effect has tem

been to put the Bengal -Nagpurout of com etition for the carriage

of the export trade, ut we cannot think thatthe Government intended that this Should bethe sequence of their decision

, and undoubtedly the position is capable of a simplesolution,

which neither the East Indian nor

Bengal -Nagpur Railways could object to.

And we Should say that a solution ispossible which would also be acceptable tothe trade, who cannot expect more than thatboth railways Should be placed on equalterms for their custom,

and that, as a conse

quence, freight to Calcutta should not behigher

,from any point by the longer route,

than it is by the Shorter.We hold in fact that the position prior tothe recent rul ing of Government was as.


satisfactory one, both to the railways and tothe trade . Now if this is accepted, thequestion to consider 18 , what the result wouldbe if the Luff Point Scheme was adoptedand the ex rt trade was taken from theK idderpur ockS to Lufl

'

Point. First of

all we ma assume that the Governmentwould be bound to '

ve the East IndianRailway access to Lu Point, on the sameterms as the Bengal Na pur Railway. In

other words , the East 11138 11 RailwayyWould

be empowered to run coal to Luff Pyoint at

the same rate of freight as the BengalNagpur Railway,

and, SO far as can be seen,over the same route as the Bengal -NagpurRailway for most of the way. Were thisnot SO

, or, in other words, were the EastIndian Railway put out of competition forthe carriage of export coal, the trade wouldrevert to much the same position asbefore the Bengal -Nagpur Railway was

admitted to the JherrIah coal field, thatis to say, coal owners would again becomedependent upon one line of railway for

the carriage of their coal instead of two.

Does the trade consider that they would beany better served by the Bengal NagpurRailway alone than they were

c’

previouslyserved by the East Indian Railway alone .

7

The Chairman of the Indian Mining ASSO

ciation proved beyond question, at a recentmeeting, that the Kidderpur Docks werecapable of dealing with any likely expansion



T0 go back a few years earlier than theLuff Point controversy. In 189 8, in orderto relieve the pressure on the East IndianRailway below Burdwan, where, whenevertraffic was at all brisk

,there was constant

congestion, the Company roposed toconstruct a Short chord to owrah. Theroute was surveyed

,but before sanctioning

construction the Government appointed a

Committee to consider its necessity.

This Committee sat in 1901 , Mr. JamesDouglas, the Agent, representing theRa ilway Company, the rest of the Committeebeing composed ofPublic Works officers

,the

majority of whom were opposed to thescheme. Besides considering the measuresnecessary for the relief of congestion of trafficon the lower section of the East IndianRailway the Committee also dealt with thefollowing questions

( 13The entrance of the Bengal -Nagpur Railway into

the herriah coal-fields.

(2) The provision of an independent access to Calcuttafrom the North-Western Provinces.

A S a result the Short chord line proposedby the East Indian Railway was abandoned

,

and the Bengal -Nagpur Railwaywere allowedinto Jberriah .

CHAPTER XXVI .

STATISTICS.

ACCURATE statistics of work done on Indianrailways have, almost from the earliestdays, been held to be one of the mostimportant factors of economical management, as they afford an efficient means ofascertaining the work actual rmed andthe cost of performin it. he histox

yinof

railway statistics in ndia is containe

a note published by General Sir RichardStrachey In 1901 , here reproduced :Note on the bearing ofaccurate statistics

of working on the economical management ofrailways :The Times of the 14thDecember, quot

'

from the Statist of the same date, whichas a long article on the subject, announces,on the authority of the General Man er of

the great railway system known as the orthEastern Railway of England, as though itwas something remarkable

,that its managers

have determined to adopt what the Statistcalls the American system of ton and passenger mileage returns. It tells us also, on thesame authority, what I think will startlesomqvp

ersons, that the averagetrain leads an

the orth Eastern system ur'

mg,“

3W


1900were, in round numbers, in passengertrains only 624 persons, in merchandisetrains only 44 tons, in mineral trains only92% tons, or in merchandise and mineralstaken together 6 6 6 tons ; and that the average rates charged were, for passengers ‘

6 17d.

per mile,for merchandise 1 6 4 per ton per

mil e, and for minerals 1d . per ton per mile,or takingmerchandise, live stock andmineralstogether per ton per mile and there isno reason to suppose that the train loads andcharges on other great English lines differmaterially from those of the North -Eastern.

Managers of Indian railways will fullyunderstand from these figures how it is thatEnglish Companies with their constant increases of capital expenditure

,in working ex

penses and in the ratio of expenses toreceipts, and in demands made on themfor reduction of rates

,are beginning to

find themselves on the ed e of a precipice,with the greater part at east of the dividends on their ordinary stock in jeopardy.

But they might also say that the discoveryof the value of ton and passenger mileagereturns comes more than a little late, and

that to speak of it as an American practiceimplies a curious ignorance that the practice,was adopted more than 30 years a

go, under

the orders of the Government of ndia, byall Indian railways, and its results for atleast 25 years havebeenwidely disseminatedIn Innumerable copies oi Xndxan h em-

gem“



need say nothing here, except that it washighly successful. But by far the moreimportant result, for, in fact, the usefulnessof the line to India, as well as its financialsuccess, has been determined by it, was thatour many conversations on the subject led tothis conclusion— that nothing of value couldbe effected on Indian lines, until their trafficswere stated in ton and passen er mileage.

My own recollections of the (i tafls of ourdiscussions are, from lapse of time, gettinghazy but Sir Alexander Rendel tells methatbewell remembers how, whenhe expressed a doubt whether the Companies could beinduced to prepare the necessary statements,I declared that “ it could be done and shouldbe done” and somehow or other done it wasat once . The decision was come to in the

early part of 186 8. Of course, it took somelittle time to set things in motion but veryearly in the seventies, Sir Juland Danvers,then the Government Director of IndianRailway Companies published, in his Annualreport to the Secretary of State, a note byMr. Rendel on the subject ; and in 1 874 theEast IndianRailway Board took the matterup by publishing in their report for the secondhalf of 1873, the statement (the form of

which will be seen on page 234) then and

long afterwards known as Mr. Rendel’

s

statement, for the second halves of 1 87 1 ,1872 and 1873 . This continued to the timeWhen the Government oi n ew. task m es

PEACTICAL RESULTS or STATISTICS. 233

from Sir Juland Danvers the duty of preparing the annual report on Indian railways, and developed their statistics into theperhaps over-elaborate form in which theyare now drawn up . The Board from thattime attached to their half-yearly reports,and still do so

,a copy of so much of the

Government statistics as included the moreSimple statement of their earlier reports.It has, moreover, become the establishede to place, week by week, before the

official meetings,at which are present the

Agent andHeads ofDepartments, as well asthe Government Consulting Engineer and

Examiner ofAccounts , a statement containing the princi 1 results of the working, sothat the Whole

a

of the officers concerned inthe management of the traffic are kept con

tinually informed of the progress made, andimmediate attention i s directed to any fallingoff or improvement in the train and wagonloads, as well as to the increases and decreasesof the traffic of all descriptions and thereceipts from it.The practical results of this system, the

influence of which on the AdministrativeS taff extends also to the Board of Directors,to whom these weekly statements areregularly submitted, may be gathered fromthe annexed comparison of the traffic of theline for the first half of 1872, before thenew statistics had produced much ,

though

some result, with that at th e. Rita's


half of 1901— when they had been actedon for more than thirty years. I take forthe former period What was then known asthe main line. I omit the Jubbulpore line,the accounts of which were at the timestated separately, because it was then butnew, and its union with the main line wouldlead to unduly unfavourable conclusions. Iconvert also ru ees from their standardvalue in 1872 o 13 . 10d . to their presentprice of I s . 4d. and I take a passenger trainmile in both cases as costing the same as agoods train mile

,and compute the cost per

train mile in the same way as in 1872 .

We have then the followingPASSENGER TRAFFIC.

l sthalf

year,

190

M iles open1. Average receipts from each pas

senger trainpermi le2. Average sum received for carry

ing a passenger (taking all classes to

getherlone mile

3. verage number inany passengertrain at any one time4. Average cost of running a train

onemile l s. 10§d .

5. Averagecostof carrying a passenger onemile6. Average profit on each passenger

per mile‘ 135d .

7 Average number of assengertrams runnin

gover each mi 9 of line

each way per iom (supposing all trainsto runover theWhole line inoperation).8. Average number of passengers

passing over each mile of lineboth waysper diem


236 HI STORY OF THR E. I . RAILWAY.

4. The reduction of the cost of runningtrains, amountin to about one- fourth.

Under the in uence of steady attentionto train load we first largely reduced themileage cost of carryin a passenger or aton of goods. Then, ving reduced our

expenses, we were enabled to reduce ourrates ; and then,

by reducing our rates, weincreased our traffic. We also saved in capital expenditure by reducin the quantity of

rolling and locomotive stoc and of stationaccommodation of all kinds, &c. , &c. , thatwas needed to meet the requirements of

traffic.The very different conditions of the two

countries does not admit of any useful com

parison of the mone recei ts and chargesetween the East In ian an North -EasternRailways . A S to train loads, however, itmay be remarked that the passenger trainloads , though four times those of the NorthEastern

,are less than on several other Indian

l ines. The cause l ies in our rates, whichare still too high. In goods, although we

have nearly doubled our train loads since1872 , the goods and mineral train loadsshould be greater than they are , and I haveno doubt that a judicious reduction of rateswould lead to an increase in quantities carriedthat would be profitable . There are

, how

ever, ditficulties in the way ofmaking provision for any considerable increase to traffic,whether in passengers or goods ,

th at r snhsx

USE OF STATISTICS. 237

any immediate action in this direction impracticable.I f it be asked what have ton and passenger

mileage returns to do with all this,the

reply is, that with ton and passenger milereturns

,as well as passenger and goods train

miles , you arrive at once at the averagepassenger and goods train loads, and theseare a test of the healthy management of a

line, such as a healthy pulse is to the humanbeing. Making, of course, due allowancesfor variation of circumstances they areinfallible . Low train loads, except underknown or easily ascertainable circumstancesint, without doubt, to faulty management.If)

uncorrected, they will lead a line todestruction

, for low train loads mean hightrain mileage . The working expenses of

a railway are not necessarily pro ortionate

to the traffic carried, but to the e§ort madeto carry the traffic— that is mainly to thetrain mileage run ; and a needlessly hightrain mileage means capital and revenuewasted in every possible form,

and, worsethan this, it means rates and fares beyondthe necessities of the case and consequentneedless burdens on commerce. The publicalways pays ultimately for the blunders ofrailway management.We who are connected with India are

free,at any rate to a great extent , from this

reproach,but this is due, in a degree whi ch

possibly will never be fully adm'

xttet ,ts sax


ton and passenger mileage returns and theway they have been forced by the administrations on the attention of the Executivesof Indian railways.”

I t will be noted that it took nearly thirtyyears to increase the loads of goods trainsfrom 1 137 5 tons to 201 5 9 tons and thatG eneral Sir Richard Strachey was not

altogether satisfied with the results. By1 902 the figure had gone up to 202 7 5 tons,but early In 1 903 Sir Alexander Rendelonce more visited India and attended one

of the weekly official meetings at which thestatistics are examined ; he drew specialattention to the subject of train loads and

said that in his opinion the average weightin a train should be increased to 250 tons.Efforts were made to bring about the

desired result, and what followed is within theknowledge of all interested in the subject ;by the close of 1904, the average weighthad not only been increased to the figurementioned by Sir Alexander Rendel, buthad gone beyond it, and has Since risen toover 27 5 tons.Statistics not only form the true basis for

economies in working, but have enabled theEast Indian Railway Company to initiatewith confidence a liberal policy in regard torates, and to introduce concessions which,in their absence

,would be thought dan

gerously near the line where profit ends and


CHAPTER XXVII .

THE JAMALPUR WORKSHOPS.

IT has often been asked why it was thatJamalpur was selected as the site for theCom any

’

S Locomotive Works. Jamalpuris O the main line

,is distant from the

Ben al coal -fields , whence not only its

fuel at its pig iron has to be transported,

and beyond this it has no natural watersup ly.

0 have selected such a lace as theHeadQuarters of Locomotive Igngineering workswas obviously a blunder as great a blunderperhaps as the construction of the tunnelnear by, a piece of work that was altogetherunnecessary and stands to this day a monument of the wasteful expenditure of the time.The chief reason for the choice seems tohave been that Jamalpur was adjacent tothe town ofMonghyr, which had been knownfor years as the Birmingham of the East

,

”

and it was conceived that a plentiful supplyof Skilled mechanics could always be drawnfrom that place. The inhabitants of Mon

ghyr had for centuries been mechanics bytrade

,they were of a caste Skilled in the

manufacture of ironware, notably of guns,pistols, spears and other weapons, and were

D ECISION To MOVE To JAMALPUR . 241

clearly the class of people who would readilytake to mechanical engineering work .

Beyond this it must not be forgotten that,at the time the selection was made, Jamalpurwas on, what was then intended to be, themain line of the railway.

Jamalpur was at first only an enginechanging station

,though light repairs were

done in the running Shed there. The actualhead - quarters of the Locomotive Department were at Howrah , but this place, beingnear Calcutta

,not only possessed great draw

backs but was too confined to admit of

extensions . There was in fact no room in

Howrah for the workshops of the Locomotive Department, as well as for the Company

’sCarriage and Wagon Building works

,and

after long and mature consideration it wasdecided to remove the former to Jamalpur.

I am indebted to Mr. John Strachan,late

Locomotive Superintendent of the Company,for the following account of the cause of

the removalIt was not till the early sixties that the late Mr . D . W.

Campbell decided to remove the workshops to Jamalpur,and this was owing to the drivers and fitters giving trouble.

They were all covenanted men from home who had lefttheir families there, and as hotels and billiard rooms weretheir only amusement, it was no uncommonthing formen to

leave the Shops during working hours and ad’

ourn to a

hotel, then Opposite the railway station, kept y a verycivil old shi steward, named Bobby Deans, who couldalways give t em something to eat, as well as somethingto drink and a game of billiards .

“Therewere also several other places of amusement inHowrah and Calcutta to which men coul d po ss e. amongthese was a place known asWilson’s CofieeRoom ?

H, EI R


One day Mr. Campbell , returnin from the WeeklyMeeting in theAgent’s Ofiice, happens to cal l atWilson’sCofi

'

ee Room for tifiin, and herehe found three of his principal workshop foreman and two engine drivers enjoyingthemselves in rather a boisterous manner. They asked himto join them in having a peg. What he said in reply hasnever been recorded , but themen Very quickly retired, andafter that Mr . Campbell never rested until he had theworkshops and Locomotive Omces removed fromHowrah toJamalpur.

”

It is no part of this history to trace thegradual growth of Jamalpur, from a smallengine - changing station, to what is now

known as the Crewe of India, but thefollowing account, kindly furnished me byMr. M . Nash

,of the Locomotive De

partment, is ofundoubted interest, containingas it does a very clear description of Jamalpur and the Company’s Works there at thepresent time.“The supervising staff of the workshops

consists of 26 Foremen and Assistant Foremenand about 1 80European andEast Indianmechanics of the former a large proportionhave been recruited from England direct.Practically the whole of this staff is housedin quarters owned by the Company, and

live within easy distance of the workshops.

Other buildings consist of a Church , RomanCatholic Chapel ,Mechanics

’ Institute, Swimming Bath, Hospital, including a se aratebuilding for infectious diseases

,and agchool

for the children of European -and EastIndian employés. There is also a Boardingh0use inwhich 40European erooEast Indian



they occupied barely half of this space. Atthat time men were em loyed com

pared with 9 ,428 this year ((1 9065)

the wagesin 1890 amounted to RS. 4, 15 ,09 3 comparedwith Rs . in l 905 . The valueof the outturIi is about RS. 54, a yearor £360,000compared with £58,332 in 1 890.

The above serves to ive some idea of thevast strides that haveheen made in the lastfew years, and the growth of the LocomotiveDepartment of the railwaymay alsobegaugedby the fact that in 1863 the total enginestock was 247 , and at the present time IS 9 52 .

The shops are now or will be very Shortlyin a position to build locomotives to meet allthe requirements of the line. The work of

building locomotives has been actually goingon for some years , but owing to the amountof repairs to existing stock that is necessary,new- engine building has had to be keptback . Almost all the parts of a locomotive can now be manufactured In the Shops

,

including all steel castings,and the actual

cost of a locomotive built at Jamalpur istherefore considerably less thanone purchasedand imported. The Jamalpur built engineshave given most satisfactory results.There are of course larger railway Shopsexisting in Europe, but few are more selfcontained or better equipped with modernelectrically driven machinery than theseworkshops. The distance from England ande COSt Of freight and. th e accompanying

WORK DONE AT JAMALPUR. 245

delays in complying with indents for

materials, etc. , have been successfully overcome by the liberal and progressive policythe Company have adopted in developingJamalpur. It must not be overlooked thatin addition to actual locomotive work,the workshops undertake work for theEngineering, Stores , Collieries and CarriageandWagon Departments, the whole of themanufacture of the Denham Olphert

cast- iron sleeper, which is the standard inuse on the line , being made here ; the totalvalue of the outturn for the EngineeringDepartment in the half-year ending June1905 being RS. All Signallingand interlocking gear, posts, frames, etc . ,

aremanufactured complete, and this has becomea very large item in the outturn,

a moredetailed description of which will be foundbelow. It may truthfully be said that anygeneral engineering work can be carried outin the shops, as occasion demands .The question of the supply of native

labour is nowa days a serious one at Jamalpur

,as the growth of the workshops has

completely outgrown the local supply ; it hastherefore for some time past become neces

sary to bring in labour daily, from a distanceof 19 miles on one Side

, 7 miles on another,

as well as from Monghyr, the Civil Station,6 miles distant. Workmen’s trains are run

out to these distances morning and evening5to bring in and take back the workmen .


The water-supply ofthese large workshopsis from time to time a source of anxiety.

The daily consumption is aboutgallons, and this is drawn from reservoirs inwhich rain water is stored, all availablecatchment area being tapped for the purpose ; the supply therefore is entirely dependent on the rainfall. For a period of two

months or SO, on two occasions durin thelast few years, due to a Short rainfal thereservoirs have become completely exhausted,and water has had to be brought in fromthe Ganges, 6 miles distant, in trains, and

the Shops thus kept in full work. This is amost expensive as well as unsatisfactoryundertaking. It would seem that the onlynatural source from which a. never-failingsupply could be derived is the river Gangesat Monghyr, which is 6 miles distant.The following is a list of the shops , witha brief description of certain of the mostimportantSteel Foundry

— The institution of a steelmaking plant was due to the late Locomotive Superintendent of the Railway,Mr. A. W. Rendel]

,and was commenced in

1 89 8 . It then consisted of a 7 - ton SiemensMartin open hearth furnace. Since then, atthe suggestion of Mr. TomynS R. Browne ,the present Locomotive Superintendent, thefurnace has been enlarged to a capacity of10 tons, and a two-ton Tropenas ‘

converter

planis has been added for sma\\ onstxngs .



and angles required In the works, as well asfishplates. The outturn is about 400 tonsa month .

Erecting and Fitting Shop.— This shop

consi sts of three bays and a lean to,each of a

total length of 840 ft. ,and covering an area

of sq . ft. Two bays and the lean toare occupied as erecting shops, while thethird bay Is used as a fitting Shop. Eacherecting Shop bay IS served with two electricoverhead cranes of 30 ton capacity each , andthe fitting Shop with a 10 ton crane of samedesign. This shop is probably the finesterecting shop In exi stence.PointCrossing and Signal and Interlocking

Shop.— The work of constructing cross

ings and Signals was first undertakenat

o

Jamalpur In 1 894, and at that time asmall space of the tender Shop was sufiicient

for its demands. Such was the rapid Increase of this branch of work, that it veryShortly necessitated the giving up of thewhole of the tender shop, which had to beremoved elsewhere. Lately another signaland interlocking shop has had to be added,and thi s branch is now equI ed with itsown machine tools

,all operated

)

by electri

city,a small smithy with pneumati c hammers,

etc. The output last year comprised 31complete interlocking frames varying in Sizefrom 4 to 85 levers.Machine Shops.

— The work IS divided Intotwo sections, V iz.

,general machine work

,and

JAMALPUR ELECTRIC SUPPLY . 249

locomotive machine work, each being accommodated in separate Shops

,the general

machine Shop covering a space of 49 ,9 50

square feet,and the other 5 1 ,6 15 . A S far

as possible,the machines are grouped to avoid

unnecessary handling of material,and to

ensure a continuous sequence from roughingto finishing.

The other Shops are as follows :Brass Foundryy, For e , Smithy, Pattern,

Carpenter,Bolt and ut, Brass Finishing,

Tin and Coppersmiths’ , Cold Saw, Chaintesting

,Wheel , Boiler, Millwright, Paint,

and Tender Shop. In addition to whichthere is a lar e Detail Store .I will conclude this chapter on Jamalpurby a brief description of the introduction of

electricity into the workshops. The schemefor driving the workshops by electricitywas first put forward when Mr. A. W.

Rendell was Locomotive Superintendent, andthe electric power house actually commenced work in 1901 . It then consisted ofthree Belliss Holmes direct coupled sets, eachof 100 Kilowatt output. The power houseis situated centrally with a view to the mosteconomic distribution of electric power tothe various workshops. Later expansionhas comprised the addition of a 300-kw.

condensing turbo-generator of the Parson’srunning at revolutions perminutepower is distributed to the shops from

varione service switch panels , wh’

ro‘o oontro\


the circuits going to the shops. The electrical energy conveyed to the shops is transformed into mechanical power by means ofelectric motors, which are in part arrangedfor driving machine tools, placed in conve

nient groups,and in part disposed for indivi

dual drives. There are some 25 .electricallyOperated cranes, ranging from 2 to 30 tonsin lifting capacity, and the motor equipmentof these, together with the remamder of theshop driving, comprise an aggregate of some

H.-P .

Steam at 1501b. pressure per square inchis furnished to the generators from a batteryof fourteen boilers of the Babcock a Wilcoxtype, of which eight are hand and Six aremechanically fired. Natural draught is furnished by two steel chimneys

,each 120 feet

high,having a clear diameter of 5 feet 6

inches. These chimneys were built at Jamalpur

,and erected section by section.

The boundary of the workshops is lightedby means of arc lamps, worked from a Thomson-Houston series arc light machine, whichin turn is driven by a direct - coupled electricmotor. An electricity supply to the reater

part of the Company ’s houses and bui dings,including the Mechanics’ Institute , isafforded from the power house . Currentfor fans and lights in the buildings is sup

plied from a ring main,

fed at suitable points

y service feeders. The ringmain is supplieda11tomatically at constant pressnr e

‘oy means


CHAPTER XXVIII.

OuTRREAx OF PLAGUE— IMMUNITY OF E. I . R.

FROM SERIOUS ACCIDENTS— THE DELHIDURBAR— ME. T. ROBERTSON’

S ENQUIRY

INTO INDIAN RAILWAY WORKING— REMOVAL OF CARRIAGE SHOPS To LILLOOAH.

IN May 1 89 8 plague first appeared in Caloutta, and a great panic among the native

population of the city and suburbs followed.

his panic was not caused so much by a fearof the disease itselfas by a fear of the sanitary precautions which it rendered necessary.

The precautions entailed much that wasrepugnant to the habits and feelings of thepeople of India, and extreme terror fell uponthe lower classes of the native community,apparently due to exaggerated and absurdrumours about the nature and stringency of

the precautionary measures to be taken ;rumours originating artly in ignorance andpartly perhaps inma ice. Shortly after thefirst outbreak in the metropolis , forty thousand terror- stricken persons left Calcutta,within a few days, by the East Indian Railway alone many fled from the city by otherroutes. A S a result no boatmen, cartersnor coolies wereprocnralo\e, m s at one time

PLAGUE AND ACCID ENT. 253

over wagons of merchandize stoodunder load at Howrah , because ofthe impOSSIbility of procuring labour to discharge them.

It speaks well for the loyalty and devotionto duty of the subordinate Railway Staff thatnot a Single man left his post, though manysuccumbed to the disease, and there wereoutside agitators trying their utmost toprovoke a strike . Various means have beenadopted by the Government of India to prevent the spread of plague and to stamp itout

,but SO far these have met with little

success. For some years all railway passengers were subjected to medical examinationat different stations on the line

, where plaguecamps were established, but this systemeffected no good and was most un opular, so

was abandoned. Plague has in fhct unfortunately continued in India since 1898 to thepresent day, and unhappily there are as yetno indications of its disappearingThe East IndianRailway has been remarkably immune from accident, but one of themost extraordinary occurred on the 29th of

June 1902. A mixed train proceeding C id

the loop line was blown over by a tornadoin the vicinity of Rampore Hat Station and

thirteen passengers were killed and fifteenwounded. That the number was not far

greater, seeing that practically the wholetrain was wrecked and that there were some300 passengers in it, was due to the factthat the wind brought the engine to a stann


before the vehicleswere overthrown. Strangeto say a very Similar accident had occurredon the East Indian Railway some thirty

years previously and very near the sameplace in both cases the surrounding countrywas an open plain,

the lines of the railwaybeing laid on a Slight embankment, about fivefeet high , with nothingwhatever to break theforce of the wind. Both these accidentswere what is termed acts of God seriousaccidents due to negligence or carelessnesson the part of the staff have been rare and

when they have occurred, there has fortunately been but little loss of life. Seeingthat until very recently all points wereworked by menials, there being racticallyno interlocking, this speaks well for the

native staff.In January 1 903 a grand Durbar was held

inDelhi in honour of the Coronation ofHisMajesty the King-Emperor of India. Itwas in November 1 901 that the intention tohold an Imperial Durbar was first publiclyannounced, the railway had therefore littlemore than a year in which to prepare for thegreat accessionoftraffic it would have to carryin connection. The Delhi Station had to becompletely remodelled , subsidiary lines and

stations in the vicinity had to be constructed,the coachin stock

,particularly the higher

class, had toi e augmented, the staff strengthened, their accommodation arranged for, and

many questions of detainh as to ‘oe worked


256 RI s'

I ORY or run. If . I . RAILWAY.

the East Indian that the heaviest strain fell.The Engli shman newspaper gauged thedifficulty in a leader published on the l stDecember 1902

,and the following extract is

taken from it

The forthcoming Durbar at Delhi will be the biggestthing of its kind that India has ever seen. It will beattended by His Excellency the V iceroy, H . R. H. theDukeof Connaught and seventeen Governors

, L ieutenantGovernors , Residents and Agents to the Governor-General,Chief Commiss ioners and other high British officials. fiftyfour ruling Chiefs invited by His Excellency the Viceroy,and fifty rul ing chiefs invited by Local Governments andAdministrations , in addition to numerous titled nativegentlemen and crowds of European guests and visitors fromall parts of India. Most of the notabilities require specialtrains, many of them also require special trains for theirguests and followers, and nearly everyone else wants specialaccommodation of some kind or another. Bes ides this the

traffic in tents. camp equipage, horses and carriage will beimmense, while the large army collected in D elhi and thevicinity means the transport by railway of vas t supplies ofall sorts . The magnitude of the traffic can hardly beappreciated, and seeing that a large proportion has to becarried over a lead of many hundred miles, it is not surprisingthat the Indian railways are confronted with d ifficultiesand find it impossible to avoid congestion.

In his Report on the Durbar traffic theOfficiating General Traffic Manager re

marked

I t is hardly necessary to say that the Durbar traffic wasunique and without precedent in Indian Railway working

,

for the Durbar of 187 7 bears no comparison with it. Itwas recognised from the first that we had before us a taskbristling with difficulties , and that the special class oftraffic we would have to deal with would strain our

resources to the utmost.

”

That all obstacles were overcome in theend without any serious Xixtc

‘

n and with out. a.

armor or ma DUBBAB. 257

single accident of any kind was more attributable to the personal exertions of the staffthan to any facilities that were, or couldpossibly be afforded for

‘ the purpose.Crowding and some delay were inevitable

,

and the difficulty of preventing these wasenhanced by the awkward and confinedsituation of the Delhi main station, intowhich most of the traffic had perforce to bebrought.One great result of the Durbar was that

the remodelling of Delhi Station, which hadlong been contemplated , was materially hastened , while many lessons were learnt whichshould prove useful on a future occasion of

a similar kind but it is evident that IndianRailways, havin ordinarily but a comparatively very smalfupper class traffic to convey,will never be in a position to meet a greatdemand of this nature without difficulty.

Commentin on the Durbar traffic GeneralSir Bichar Strachey said to the shareholders

The general effect of the reat assemblage at Delhi onthe traffic has been of dou tful advantage, the benefitderived from the increased receipts of the higher classes ofpassengers having been to no small extent counteracted bynecessary increased expenditure in various directions.I t may be frankly admitted that Indian railways are not

adapted to cope with sudden and large demands for increased accommodation for the higher classes of passengers,and that it is on the third class, which rovides nineteentwentieths of the numbers carried and

pfour-fifths of the

receipts that the prosperity of this branch of the trafficdepends. I may add that it is for its development. and.

convenience that our attention should be M W ‘

Y R

258 RIs'rORY or ra te R. I . RAILWAY.

Towards the close of 1901 , Mr. ThomasRobertson, was deputed by theSecretary of State for India

31 To enquire into and re rt upon the administration

an working of Indian rai ways , whether controlled bythe State or by Companies, with s

pzcial reference to the

system under which they should managed in India inthe future( 2) To re rt upon the feasibility of a systematic planof railway evelopment in India, to be worked up to bythe Government over a series of years( 3 ) To advise as to the management and developmentof the traffic, the convenience of the public and the improvement of the revenue, and(4) Generally tomake such suggestions as hemight think

useful for any or all of these urposes. including the extension of branches and light rai ways as feeders of the mainline.

Mr. Robertson’s re ort was issued in 1 903,after he had travelled

)

extensively over theIndian railways and investigated their generalworking and administration, and after he hadvisited America to study the methods of

railway management there.Mr. Robertson’s general conclusion was

that the working of the Indian railwayscannot be regarded as at all satisfactory,

”

and that root and branch reform was neededif, he said, the railways of India are torender that full and efficient service to thecountry of which they are capable, they mustbe permitted to be worked more as commercial enterprises than they have been in thest.”pa

M r. Robertson’s report dealt in some detailwith various questions of administration and

working,criticised more particularly the


260 msroar or THE R. I . RAILWAY.

the report in describing the existiu system of administration as cumbrous machinery, whi is apt to impair thesense of responsibility, crush initiative, check progressand delay business to an extent which would be fatal to anyother commercial enterprise.

’Nor have I any difi culty in

accepting the view that this is largely due to the fact thatthe administrative head of the de

partment, namely, the

member in charge of the PublicWor s Portfolio,has never

had any previous training in railway working and e

ment.’ It might have been added that so far from t e

selection of this member of the Government being at

present made on a consideration of any special a titude for

the discharge of his responsible duties, I t is un erstood tobe determined by some supposed established claim of thesenior members of the Cl vii Service of the three old

Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay to obtain seatsin theGovernor-General’s Council by a system of rotation.

’

In one of Lord Rosebery’s recent speeches he remarked,when referring to the government of this country byCabinets, that it works well on the whole is a tribute,less to the institution itself than to the capacity of ourrace to make any conceivable institution succeed.

’ Withsome hesitation as to the character of the results of theGovernment control of Indian railways, I think his remarkswill wel l apply to it also.At the same time, it appears impossible to deny that,

notwithstanding What I amprepared to call very glaring

defects, the general result of t e treatment of railways inIndia considerin the many serious difii culties that havebeen encountere financial and administrative, has beenremarkable, and the development of the present system ofrailways, extending to miles, is highly creditable tothose through whose exertions such a large measure ofsuccess has been obtained . I am therefore unable to accept,as justified by the actual results, the sweeping assertion ofthe report, that the present administration and workingof the Indian railways cannot be regarded as at all satisfactory,’ nor that ‘

root and branch reform alone wil l beproductive of lasting good.

’ I see no reason for think ingthat thoroughly qualified persons with adequate Indianexperience may not be found to be entrusted with themanagement of the Public Works Department in India,in all its branches, as has been the case in all other branchesof the administration, and in those cases has had the resultof making Indian administration the admiration of all

who have a real know\edge of what it is, and thedifi culties

it has to overcome.

CHAIRMAN’S VIEws onMR. ROBERTSON

’

S REPORT. 261

The discussions that have taken place during the pastyear in this country as to the general character of Englishrailway management, have not had the effect of showingsatisfactorily any ve remarkable superiority that it maypossess over that of ot er countries, and this 1 amdisposedto extend to India. I amunable to admit, for instance, thatthemanagement of a railway like the East Indian, which,mile for mile, carries without d ifficulty about si ht timesthe number of passengers carried by the I llinoisCentral ofthe United States of America, and almost the same quantity of goods, and at rates not higher, with a net yearlyprofit to the Government, which owns the line, of something like a million sterling, after paying all charges forinterest

,and suppl ing a contribution of upwards oftowards t e redemption of the original capital

outlay, can be properly spoken of as calling for root andbranch reform. I am, therefore, unable to see that thesubstitution of a body of English railwa experts, with noknowledge of Indian conditions, is at all likely to supplywhat is wanted to reduce satisfactory management ofInd ian railways, or t at this is not to be obtained frompersons trained in India itself.I venture to say that the fundamental defects of the

methods of control adopted by the Government of Indiaarise from the inherent character of its bureaucratic organisation, which leads to a centralised system of intervention,extend ing to the smallest details of management, carriedout through officials who are inmany cases less competentto deal with the business in hand than those whose actionsthey control. I t is, however, hardly possible to avoid theconclusion that the conditions of the contracts that existbetween the Secretary of State and the Companies entrustedwith the working of railways in India, render some suchgeneral system as that now in existence for the purpose ofauthorising expenditure essential, and so far as I am ableto form an Opinion, the objectionable friction that has oftenarisen in the case of this Company, to which alonemy knowledge ih this matter extends, has been caused by the mischievous tendency of the superior officers of theGovernment,to interfere with the discretion of the ofi cers of the Company, rather than from the initiative of the consultingen ineers, who communicate directly with the Company’s0 cars, and are naturally animated by the spirit of theirsuperiorsOn this subject I will further only add that I can call to

mind no case in which, inmy judgment, has the ( im amment control, in recent times at a\\ cveats , ceabaxssh m


prevent extravagance in construction, and subsequentwaste in maintenance and working.’ On the contrary, inmany cases it has certainly led to results the reverse of this,by causing the postponement of works theconstruction ofwhich might, with great advantage, have been taken upearlier, and by being distributed over a longer period havereduced the eventual pressure, financial and executive,

the growing urgent need of improvements has even

tually rendered inevitable Of the parts of the report thatdeal with questions of technical railway working, I do notthink that I can usefully say more than that it is impossibleto treat Indian railways as though they were all al ike intheir condition, and that to attempt to discuss details ofthis description on an occasion such as the present is out ofthe question, even if I were competent to offer opinions as

to lines with the condition of which I have no specificknowledge.

Since these remarks were made, the Railway Board has been formed and now rulesthe destinies of the Railways in India.

In 1900the work of removing the carriageand wac on buildin shops of the undertakinfrom Howrah to illooah was commencetf.The move became necessary because of thecramped accommodation at Hoivrah, and

because of the entry of the Bengal -NagpurRailway int-o that terminus ; but while themove was being effected the work of theDepartment naturally fell into arrears andwhen this happens it takes time to make upfor lost way. Since then the constructionof a new station for the joint use of the

East. Indian and Bengal -Nagp Railwayshas been started and the portion so far sanctioned by the Government is now well onits wav towards completion.



even up to the car 1859 , the BengalCoal Company were st

'

boating coal, becausethe railway charges were too costly and

the wagon stock insufficient but this couldonly have been poss ible for a few months inthe year, and profitable only when Englishcoal was very scarce. Yet the fact remainsthat for several years after the opening of therailroad, the Bengal Coal Company foundit necessary to employ a fleet of someboats to bring their coal to market. Surelythere could be no better proof than this of theunpreparedness of the railway to carry thetraffic Offering when it first Opened, althoughit is recorded that in 1855 the railway had

contracted to convey tons of coalfrom Raneegun e to Calcutta.

The export o ainand seeds from India toEurope was, at t e time the railway opened,nominal, and whatever was exported came tothe port by river. A trade in some items,which are now included among the rincipalstaples carried, such as potatoes or

’kerosme

oil, did not exist cottonwas the traffic whichwas expected to rank first in importance . Igo,

” said Lord Dalhousie on his appointmentas Viceroy of India in 1847 ,

“not to make

wars but to send cotton home.” India wasbehind all countries in which railroads hadbeen constructed ; Jamaica was the onlyplace distant from Europe that could be

pointed to as a precedent for the existenceof a railway it was at any rate fins mm

NEED FOR RAILROAD SYSTEII . 265

place in which a railway existed, that was atall on a arallel with India. Had the EastIndian Railway been completed to Delhiwithin ten years of the formation of the

Company in 1845 , as indeed it might wellhave been, if it had not been for the t ime lostin controversy and especially in coming to

a final decision as to the route to be followed,the Indian MutIny would have assumed a

very different aspect. As it was it took solong to settle details that only the Shortlength to Raneegunge had been constructedwhen the Mutiny broke out yet even thisshort length proved of the greatest advan

tage to Government in helping forwardtroops and stores to the front.Fortunately there were some far- seeingpeople who realized and insisted that therewas in the construction of railways in India,even more than their strategic 1m ortance,evenmore than the primary idea 0 connecting the seat of the Su reme Governmentwith the North-West rovinces. Therewere those, in short, who had the foresightand wisdom to see, that the development ofthe immense resources of the country couldonly be successfully effected by the introduction of a railroad system, and to believe withLordMacaulay that

,excepting only the in

ventions of the alphabet and the printinpress

,none had done so much for the mors

and intellectual‘pro

gress

of man as those1which abridge stance and imp:m e. sue


means of communication. There was atleast some truth in what a shareholder in theEast Indian Railway remarked at the firstmeeting of the Board : Railways would domore towards the civilization of India inseven years than all the missionaries

\haddone in 200years .” But on the other handthere were many who held contrary views,and in the end the East Indian Railway wasonly sanctioned in part as an experimental ”

line.Among the pioneers of the East IndianRailway

,the names of Mr. Crawford and

Mr. Macdonald Stephenson will always beremembered . Both of them were associatedwith the undertaking from its inception ;they were among the most prominent ofthose by whose exertions railways werefirst introduced into India. It was to Mr.Stephenson that the first steps in the construction and management of the East IndianRailway were entrusted, and his connectioncontinued until 1 89 2 , when

,owing to ad

vanced age,he retired . Sir Macdonald

Stephenson died Shortly after his serviceswith the Company were severed , andGeneralSir Richard Strachey

,in referring to his

death , remarked : It does not fall to thelot of many to find their anticipations of

success so fully realized as that achieved bythe great undertaking

,to the initiation of

which Sir Macdonald enson’

s perseverance and energy so cantfi snmh ;



Then a in, Mr. Crawford saw the trafficg fair more rapidly than the facilities

the and there is little doubt thathe was handicap d b want of fundsfor improvements ; the

'

ffic ties he had tocontend with were in fact enormous. Almostat the outset of his career as Chairman, theoutbreak of the mutiny in India may wellhave caused a panic among the shareholdersin London, yet Mr. Crawford allayed theirfears , by making a simple statement of the

pgsition, at a time when his heart must haveen filled with knowledge that might have

made the boldest quail . The chief loss,”

he said, will be that arising from the temporary stoppage of the principal portion of

the works, and the consequent delay in their

completion.

” These words were spokenwithin four months of the massacre at

Cawn ore, where the blood of nearly all theEast ndian Ra ilway Engineers , engaged onthe construction of the art of the lineadjacent to that city

,h been ' shed,

’ at atime of upheaval of the whole of India,and at a time when the Company’s affairs inti

l

i

l

is country must have been in a state of

c aos.Mr. Crawford was Chairman Of the Board

of Directors from 1 854 to 1 889 , and duringthese 3 5 years the gross receipts of the

undertaking rose from a nominal sum to over

INCREASE TO MILEAGE OPEN. 269

four and a half crores of rupees in a year.During the next fourteen years, General SirRichard Strachey saw a far more rapiddevelopment the earnings rose to over fourcrores of rupees in half a year, and to nearlyeight crores in a ear.When Genera Strachey succeeded Mr.Crawford as Chairman, the East IndianRailway controlled miles. During thereceding ten years there had practicallybeenno addition to the length of line worked ;want of funds had prevented extensions, ifindeed their importance had been thoroughlyrecognised. The undertaking had, as a

matter of fact, remained in a state of torpor ;from the time the Chord line was completed,it had not made any real progress. It istrue that its traffic had continued to grow,

but the growth, viewed in the light of whatfollowed, had been very gradual, and in

regard to improvements only the most urgentand pressing needs had been provided for.

During the next fifteen years, the mileageworked increased to miles, while attheir close the Grand hord line

,the

Shikohabad -Farrukabad extension (sincecompleted), the Ondal -Sainthea Chord, theKhurja-Hapur branch and Bhagul ur-BausiRailway, each in itselfa considerab e undertaking, were all under construction. Mr.Crawford’s period of Chairmanship markedthe completion of an idea. General SirRichard Strachey

’

s tenure mark eh m


extension of that idea, an extension, such as

had not entered into the conception of theori inators of the railway.

n the year 1889 when General Strachebecame Chairman of the East Indian Ra

'

way,the Government Share of the surplus

profits was Rs. and the Company’sshare Rs. In 1 904, the Government share amounted to Rs. and

the Company’s ‘ share to Rs.The terms of the contract under which theCompany works the railway for the Government have, during the Chairmanship ofG eneral Sir Richard Strachey, been madefar more favourable to Government, still thedividend to the shareholders , or, as they noware, the Deferred Annuitants, is greaterthan it was in 1 889 , although, be it remembered

,the rate of exchange is lower. In

1 889 , when General Strachey became Chairman

,with exchange at more than 1 - 5d . per

rupee, the dividend paid was £5 - O- 6 , percent, in 1 904 with exchange at 1 - 4d. thed ividend was £6 - 2 - O. per cent. It isdoubtful whether in the world’s history an

undertakin of such magnitude as the EastIndian Rai way has proved so great a success,both financially and otherwise. The capitaloutlay on the East IndianRailway Companywhich was in 1850threemillions sterling, roseby the end of 1 904 to more than thirtythree and a halfmillions Sterling, and so largeare the additions now b eing, made . \.n Kins



to render anything like active progresspossible. The Moghalsarai

-Gya line, withthe branch to Daltongunge was then undertaken,

as a first instalment of the GrandChord. In the succeeding five years therewas an average yearly capital outlay of 157

lakhs of rupees, all of which was devoted toconstruction, to additional engines and rollingstock

,and to im rovements on the line

,

including station uildings, staff quarters,workshops and other permanent works. Butas before indicated, from 1880 to 1890 thecapital outlay had been nominal, the EastIndian Railway had been allowed to remainin a condition of torpor. All this had to beremedied and it was General Sir RichardStrachey who had to find the remedy.

When General Strachey became Chairman,

the experimental stage had pas sedaway, the success of the railway had becomeassured. It remained to him to developwhat had been created, to make the pro ressof the future worthy of the success 0 thepast. There are few who will dispute thathis policy in reducing rates, particularly thecoal rates

,his great foresight, and unique

knowledge of detail, added to his vas t ex

perience and intimate connection with India,have in no small measure contributed to theimmense development of traffic which hastaken place in the last few years.It was of him that his brother wrote :There are in my b aixe

’i , i sm men living

GENL . SIR R. STRACHEY. 273

who have done so much, often in ways unknown to the outside world, for the improvement of Indian administration. I t is tohim that India owes the initiation of thatgreat policy of the systematic extension of

railways and canals which has been crownedwith such extraordina success, which hasincreased to an incalcula le extent the wealthof the country

,and has profoundly altered

its condition. To him is due the conceptionof those measures of financial and administrative decentralisation which have hadthe most far -reaching consequences, and

which were pronounced by Sir Henry Maineto be by far the greatest and most successfulreforms carried out in India in his time. Tohis active support is largely due the initiation of the measures, which have provedof the highest value, for reventing thedestruction of the Indian f

’drests, and for

their scientific protection and management.He it was who first organised the greatDepartment of Public Works , and laid thefoundations of the scientific study of Indianmeteorology. He was the first, many yearsago, to advise that reform of the currencywhich has now been carried out and the delayof which has involved India in incalculableloss.”

It may not be out of place here to relatea short story about General Sir Richard

India, its Administration and P rogress ,‘

ns 3“ 3 th “Strachey .

H, EIR


Strachey. When he took to Lord Lawrencefor signature, the great despatch on theolicy of the Government borrowing largelyfor reproductive public works, of which of

course he had written every word himself,Lord Lawrence put his L to the foot of

it, and as he laid down his pen looked atGeneral Strachey with a grin and saidThe will think me very clever. So

,

indeed:would many be thought who couldSign, as their own, despatches written by thehand of the Chairman of the East IndianRailway.

These remarks would be very incompletewithout a word of reference to one

, who has

been intimately associated with the undertaking for the past fifty years

,and still

retains his close connection with all itsaffairs ; one whomay indeed be regarded as

the doyen of the Railway Company and theright handman of both its Chairmen ; I referto Sir Alexander Rendel, the Company

’

S

Consulting Engineer.Part only of Sir Alexander Rendel

’

s

work Is referred to In this volume , it wouldform a history In itself to detail it in full

,

but if asked to point to the most importantmeasure introduced by him (in conj unctionwith General Strachey, years before he became Chairman of the East IndianRailway),I would mention railway statistics . Un

doubtedly these were initiated by him and

afterwards became a most vamas s gn’

xte.


APPENDIX A.

LIST OF AGENTS OR CHAIRMEN OF BOARD OF AGENCY.

Mr R . Macdonald StephensonEdward PalmerCecil Stephenson

Sir Bradford Leslie,Mr. D. W. Campbell,001. R. Gardiner, E .E.

Mr. James DouglasSECRETARIES TO AGENT.

Names.

Mr Cecil StephensonT. LovelockW. H . RussellP. Wagstafl

'

H . Wood

CHIEF ENGINEERS.

Names.

Mr G . TurnbullS. Power*G. SibleySir B. Leslie,C . H. DenhamF. E . Robertson, C.I .E.

E. H. StoneC. F . FindlayR. S. Highet

with headq uarters at Allahabad .

1853— 18571857— 1873

1873— 18751876— 18871887— 18911891— 18991899

1858— 1865

1866— 1872

1872— 18781878— 19001900

1850— 1863

1863— 1868

1862— 1876

1876— 1882

1882— 1889

1889— 1897

189 7— 19031903— 19031903

278 APPENDIX .

CHIEF AUDITORS.

Names.

Mr. Rob Roberts 1863— 187 7

R. C . S. Mackenzie 187 7— 1892

J. Douglas 1893— 1899

T. Bashford 1899

GENERAL TRAFFIC MANAGERS.

Names.

Mr F. Cox 1858 -1859

J . C . Batchelor” 1860— 1879

N . St. L . Carter 1879— 189 1

J . M. Rutherford 189 1— 1897

W. A . Dring 1897

Mr. Batchelor took charge of the entire line from l st JanuBefore this Mr . B. P .W. Sm was TrafiicManager,

A shed , and Mr. Batchelor was T c Manager , Howrah.

LOCOMOTIVE SUPERINTENDENTS.

Names.

Mr. J. HodgsonI

fiin ard Stokes

. CampbellJ . StrachanA . W. RendellT. R. Browne

Mr. P . D . N ichol] was Locomotive Superintendent, Upgg

r

Provinces , with head quarters at A llahabad , beforeMr.

Campbell .

CARRI AGE AND WAGON SUPERINTENDENTS.

Names . Term of Service.

Mr. R . W. Pearce 1862— 1889Richard Pearce 1889— 189 8

T. R .Brown 1899— 1901

H. K. Bamber , M .v .o .

1855— 1857

1857— 1863

1863 1887

1887— 1890

1890— 1901

1901


APPENDIX B.

THE following is a copy of the Inscription on theMemorial Tablet inCawnpore Church

TO THE MEMORY OF THE ENGINEERSIN THE SERVICE OF THE EASTINDIAN RAILWAY COMPANY,

WHO DIED ,AND WERE K ILLED

, IN THE GREAT

INSURRECTION OF 185 7 .

JOHN HODGSON ,LoCOMOTIvE SUPERINTENDENT

,D IED

AT ALLAHARAD , JUNE 21ST.

R. N . MANTELL , DISTRICT ENGINEER, D I ED AT

ALLAHABAD , JUNE 3OTH.

A . M. M. MILLER, RESIDENT ENGINEER,KILLED

AT CAWNPORE, JUNE 27TH.

A . C. HEBERD EN,RESIDENT ENGINEER, KILLED AT

CAWNPORE, JUNE 27TH.

W. DIGGES LATOUCHE,ASSISTANTENGINEER, KILLED

AT CAWNPORE, JUNE 27TH.

ROBERT HANNA,ASSISTANT ENGINEER,

KILLED AT


J . C . BAYNE,ASSISTANT ENGINEER, KILLED AT


THOMAS BYRNE,ASSI STANT ENGINEER

,D I ED AT

CALCUTTA, JULY .

Documents

great undertaking the East Indian Railway - Forgotten Books