Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway
IndustryRailways
Founded1882
Defunct1 January 1943
SuccessorOudh and Tirhut Railway
Headquarters
India
Area served
Northern India
ServicesRail transport

Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway (R&KR) was a metre-gauge railway in India covering a total network of 592 miles (953 km).[1] It was owned and worked by the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company (registered 6 October 1882). The Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway was transferred to the Government of India and merged into the Oudh and Tirhut Railway on 1 January 1943.

History

The company was founded in 1883 by the Scottish railway engineer Alexander Izat who was also the Company Director until 1904.[2]

The original main line from Bhojeepura (near Bareilly) opened in 1884 and ran 54 miles (87 km) in a north-westerly direction to Kathgodam. The railway was progressively extended, and by 1912 its network covered 256 miles (412 km). It also worked the 296 miles (476 km) long Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway.[1]

The R&KR was company owned and worked from formation in 1882. In 1883 Alexander Izat was appointed Director. Prior to this he was employed by the Railway Branch - Public Works Department (PWD) where he had served in various parts of India and was instrumental in initiating and carrying out many metre-gauge extensions.[3] He represented R&KR at the Indian Railway Conference Association and remained as Director, until his retirement in 1904. In 1918 he is recorded as being R&KR Chairman with headquarters in London.[4]

The R&KR remained a private company until nationalisation in 1943, when it was amalgamated with the Bengal and North-Western Railway (B&NWR), with which it had been closely associated, and the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, to form the Oudh and Tirhut Railway (O&TR). In turn, in 1952, the Oudh and Tirhut Railway became part of 'North Eastern Railway', a zone of Indian Railways.

The R&KR had working agreements with both the metre-gauge Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway and the narrow-gauge Powayan Light Railway. The three railways used shared facilities but retained separate identities.

Lines operated by R&KR

  • Bhojeepura-Kathgodam R&KR Mainline from Bhojeepura (near Bareilly) to Kathgodam, 1884; 54 miles (87 km)[4]
  • Kasganj Extension Line from Bareilly to Soron, 1885; to Kasganj, 1906; 63 miles (101 km)[4]
  • Ramnagar Extension Line from Moradabad to Ramnagar, 1907–8; 48 miles (77 km)[4]
  • Kashipur Extension Line from Lalkua to Kashipur, 1907; 36 miles (58 km)[4]
  • Shahjahanpur Extension Line from Pilibhit 1911; reaching Shahjahanpur 1916; 56 miles (90 km)[4]
  • Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, from 1891, a metre-gauge railway, which formed an alternative Northern Loop between the cities of Lucknow and Bareilly to the broad-gauge main line of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway. The metre-gauge network of 198 miles (319 km) in 1891 was extended to 312 miles (502 km) by 1914.[4]
  • Powayan Light Railway, from 17 December 1900, a 2-foot-6-inch (760 mm) narrow-gauge line of 39 miles (63 km) length.[4]
  • Philibhit-Sitapur Railway, sanctioned for survey in 1905–1906; metre-gauge line from Pilibhit-Bisalpur to Shahjahanpur and then to Sitapur, a length of about 105 miles (169 km).[5] The 'Philibhit - Shahjahanpur Section’ was constructed by R&KR as Shahjahanpur Extension Lin, opened 1911-16 - see above; the extension to Sitapur was constructed in 1916.
  • Dudhwa Branch Extension and Ramnager Ghat Extension, proposed in 1895 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway (LBSR).[5]
  • Pilibhit-Barmedo Branch, surveyed in 1903 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway (LBSR)[5]

Rolling stock

In 1936, the company owned 76 locomotives, 230 coaches and 2845 goods wagons.[6]

Classification

It was labeled as a Class I railway according to Indian Railway Classification System of 1926.[7][8]

Conversion to broad gauge

The railway lines were converted to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge starting from 1990s to 2010s.

References

  1. ^ a b Google Books "The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise" by Kartar Lalvani, page 218; Retrieved 8 December 2016
  2. ^ "Alexander Izat - Graces Guide".
  3. ^ Grace's Guide "Alexander Izat"; Retrieved on 18 July 2016
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 196; Retrieved 8 December 2016
  5. ^ a b c "Histories of (Indian)Railway Projects ...up to June 1906" page 42; Retrieved 8 December 2016
  6. ^ World Survey of Foreign Railways. Transportation Division, Bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, Washington D.C. 1936. p. 218.
  7. ^ "Indian Railway Classification". Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. ^ World Survey of Foreign Railways. Transportation Division, Bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, Washington D.C. 1936. pp. 210–219.
  • Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway on FIBIS
  • L/AG/46/35 "Records of the India Office relating to the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company; 1882-1931"[1]
  • L/F/7/2382-2391 "Collection 380: Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway, date unspecified"[1]
  1. ^ a b "British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue" - Search Archived 22 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine; Retrieved 27 Jan 2016
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