The first passenger service on a railway in India ran from Bombay to Thana on 16 April 1853. To mark the 150 years of Indian railways, Railway Readings this month looks at a selection of what the British railway press had to say about the railways of the subcontinent over their first century, from 1853 to 1953.

15 January 1853: The Railway Times reports on the forthcoming opening of the Bombay-Thana line

29 April 1854: A glowing report on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway from the Railway Times

10 October 1857: In the wake of the 'Indian Mutiny', the Railway Times suggests remedies for 'the barbaric lands of Inde'

7 May 1859: The Railway Times reports on the violent death of a British railway engineer

7 November 1863: The Railway Times reports a difference of opinion from the pages of the London press on railway travel in India

April 1884: The Railway Engineer considers some of the difficulties in the way of railway progress in India

19 February 1887: The Railway Times reflects on railway accidents in India

1 January 1908: The Indian Railway Gazette discusses the importance of effective personnel management on Indian railways

25 August 1911: An American correspondent for the Railway Gazette paints a vivid picture of the Indian railway system

6 November 1925: The Railway Gazette reports on the opening of the Khyber Railway linking India and Afghanistan

3 October 1947: In the aftermath of independence and partition, the Railway Gazette reports on the violence and disruption afflicting the Punjab region

5 March 1948: The Railway Gazette describes the special train run to convey the ashes of Mahatma Ghandi from Delhi to Allahabad

15 May 1953: Celebrations to mark the centenary of Indian railways, described by the Railway Gazette

'Great Indian Peninsula'
From the Railway Times, 15 January 1853, p. 59

This enterprise will shortly be opened for traffic as far as Tannah, twenty-one miles from the Bombay terminus. A double line is laid the entire distance, and the Tannah viaduct is nearly completed, except the two piers through which the navigation passes. The iron bridge for this opening is on its way out by the 'Balcarras.' The embankments, which have been exposed to the monsoon storms and rains, stand remarkably firm, even better than embankments in England. The Indian Government have approved have approved of the line being extended to Shahpoor, on the Thull Ghaut road, twenty-nine miles from Callian, where it will intercept all the traffic which descends by the Thull Gaut. The locomotives have arrived out, and are being fitted preparatory for placing on the line. In a few weeks, therefore, the iron road that is probably destined to change the habits, manners, customs, and religion of Hindoo, Parsee, and Mussulman, will commence its work in the Indian Peninsula.

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'Great Indian Peninsula'
From the Railway Times, 29 April 1854, p. 453

This company continues progressing favourably, and still keeps itself in advance of the the East Indian, both in its operations in the East and the amount of confidence reposed in it at home. We glean from the report that the section between Tannah and Callian will have been opened for passenger traffic by this date. The passenger trains between Bombay and Tannah have continued running without interruption or accident, and an instance has been given to the Government and people of India of the value of railways there in the movement of troops. The receipts from April to December amount to £8,963, presenting an average of £242 per week for twenty-two miles, whilst the working expenses do not exceed forty-six per cent. The surveys for the extensions are being proceeded with as a rapidly as possible: one staff of surveying engineers being engaged on the North-east line via Kandeish, and another on the South-east line via Poonah.

The frank explanations and lucid details given at the meeting cannot fail to inspire the proprietors with additional confidence in the undertaking, and assure them that their guaranteed five per cent. will be more than secured by the actual earnings of the line. To have earned, from passengers alone, a net income equal to three per cent. per annum on the line from Tannah to Callian is one of the surprises for which India is remarkable, and shows that the indolent habits of the natives, as well as their extreme poverty, have not been correctly estimated. As the bulk of revenue has been calculated on to be derived from goods, and as no traffic of that description has yet been carried on the line, it may reasonably be anticipated that a total income greatly exceeding former expectations is shortly to be realised. The great point remaining for settlement is the passage of the Ghauts. There appears to be no want of surveyors, no lack of energy on the part of those employed in this preliminary duty. We may look forward, therefore, to a speedy solution of the difficulty, and then for the 'great stride' in the works so graphically described by the Chairman. Altogether, the Great Indian Peninsula scheme seems destined, in despite of every obstacle, to take the lead in India, alike in economic construction and profitable return, and we sincerely trust that the good fortune with which it has been accompanied may continue with it to the end.

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'India - revolts and railways'
From the Railway Times, 10 October 1857, p. 1428

It is a complaint that railways have not more rapidly advanced in India. It is also remarked, that, had railways been more extended, troops could have been more rapidly conveyed, and the mutiny more speedily quelled. This is sheer absurdity. Had there been railways in the places of revolt, these railways would have been destroyed. Had the destruction of any particular railway been impossible, there would have been no revolt in that locality. Unless, therefore, India had been covered with railways, and been likewise occupied by immense bodies of troops to protect them, the existence of a few trunk lines would have availed little or nothing in quelling the outbreak. Had there been troops in India to protect all the railways that appear to be required, there would have been no revolt. But, as it was, there were no troops to be conveyed even on the comparatively few miles of line that exist. It is idle, therefore, to speculate on what might have been had all the circumstances under which the mutiny broke out been changed.

But it is of importance to consider how or in an what manner the railway system of India may be extended, perfected, and preserved. This is a large question, and will require not merely calm consideration, but constant ventilation.

In the first place, the whole peninsula must he be tranquillised and an assurance fixed upon the English mind that the peace of Hindostan shall not again be disturbed. Until this essential preliminary is established, not a mortgage upon the whole revenues derived under the charter is likely to induce English capital and labour to embark for settlement or operation in India. This sense of security is not to be obtained by a mere chastisement of the mutineers. Our suspicions lead us to imagine that chastisement must follow nearer home. If fear is to be irrevocably impressed upon the native mind, the whole of the civil and military establishments which the mutineers have treated with contempt must be removed. Not merely the men but the system must be changed. Neither Hindoo nor Mussulman must be permitted to imagine that he can repeat his effort a second time. He must be taught, and be made to feel, that the men and the system under which he could revolt have been superseded, and that another, of different characteristics, has been planted in its stead. The iron rule of a Cromwell, rather than of a Clive, is wanted. Severe, yet just, implacable, yet consistent, the next Governors of India must show that they are honest in themselves, honest in their intentions towards the native masses; honest in their encouragement of commerce; honest in their support of Christianity. A repetition of effete routine might no doubt prove the accuracy of the Times, that a century could do little for civilisation, but it would leave India, in some or other of its many provinces, open to periodical insurrection. Let a Governor be sent to India who shall in his life and actions show that he believes Christianity to be a truth, and he will never be troubled by scruples of caste. Let every man under him be compelled to imitate the good example thus set before them - executing justice, loving mercy, avoiding self-aggrandisement, and being content with their wages - living frugally, despising frivolity - like soldiers and servants of a system which has thunders in reserve to strike the guilty, and ready means at hand to support and promote the worthy. Put arms into the hands of no native that has not for a given period (lengthening as years go by) abjured whatever faith the Government of India, by the conduct and example of its servants, shows to be profane.

When such a plan of government is set afoot, and when it exhibits a proselytism equal to the daily increase of human beings born in the territory - then may British rule and modern civilisation consider themselves on the pathway of security. Then also, and not till then, may an extension of the railway system be profitably introduced into what are still the barbaric lands of Inde.

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'East Indian - slaughter of Mr. Evans'
From the Railway Times, 7 May 1859, pp. 533-4

It is with the deepest sorrow we have to announce the murder of Mr. William Evans, the chief engineer of the Jubbulpore branch of the East Indian. Mr. Evans was out in the district with his staff, Messrs. Limnell, Strong, Campbell, and Heywood, running out the centre line for the Jubbulpore Railway. They had a small guard of forty-eight Seikhs, supplied by the Government of India, but owing to the engineers being compelled, from the nature of their work, to be divided into two parties, the guard had also to be divided ; Messrs. Evans, Limnell, and Campbell being together, with a guard of twenty-four men, and Messrs. Strong and Heywood with the remainder of the guard.

It appears that on the morning of 26th March, while the guard were cooking their food, the encampment was suddenly surprised by about a thousand rebels; the Seikhs, though half undressed, flew to their arms, and the engineers jumped on their horses. Mr. Evans, it appears, became perfectly bewildered: the havildar of the guard said to him that if he would clear his front, his men would commence firing upon the rebels, but Mr. Evans waved his hand in the negative, and the engineers then fled in different directions. Mr. Evans and Mr. Limnell's horses became restive with the firing, and rearing, threw their riders. While Mr. Evans was lying on the ground, the rebels came up, speared him first and beheaded him afterwards. Mr. Limnell was made a prisoner, but there can be little hope of his safety. On the contrary, there is a rumour that he has also been killed. Mr. Evans's headless body has been recovered, but nothing has been seen or beard of Mr. Limnell up to the time of writing. Mr. Campbell escaped into Banda, and the Seikh guard also escaped, bringing in all the camels and the money with them.

The attack seems to have been pre-organized. The rebels, consisting of 400 sepoys, 200 matchlockmen, 150 cavalry, and 250 rabble, having heard of Mr. Evans's encampment, made a forced march of sixty miles the previous day, and encamped within sixteen miles of Mr. Evans's camp the same evening. On the next morning they surrounded the camp. The place where the attack was made was at Etwan, south of the Banda district, and it is the general talk of the country that the men were headed by the Rajah of Putturcachar, and Furjind Ali: the former a rebel chief who had lately been pardoned by Lord Canning, and, in fact, treated with every respect and consideration. It is also the general belief that Mr. Evans's servants were parties to the attack, and knew all about it, because they looted the whole camp without the rebels interfering with them [p.534>] in the least; they seemed to have a perfect understanding with the rebels. An additional reason for entertaining this belief is, that Mr. Evans was, encamped in a tope, with a fine open plain all around, and it is difficult to conceive how the rebels could have come across this plain unobserved by the servants.

There is a prevailing belief that if the engineers had remained with the guard they would have been perfectly safe, but there is no tangible ground for entertaining this supposition. It is true that the guard came away quite safely, but it is folly to suppose that if the engineers had stuck by them the guard would have got out so easily. The object of the rebels was European blood, and having obtained their end, it was of little consequence to them what became of the Seikhs, although they did take the trouble to follow them up for a short distance with determined threats of vengeance. Had the engineers remained with the guard the probabilities are that the whole of the little band would have been cut up, for what could twenty-seven men in an open plain do against 1,000, of which number 550 were trained soldiers?

This melancholy event has thrown a gloom over the whole of the railway establishment in Bengal and the north-west. Mr. Evans was one of the oldest and most efficient of the officers of the East Indian; he was one of the trio that first came out into this country, and has been in the service of that company for about eight years. His sad end is an apt commentary on the flourishing accounts that have been sent home of late about the rebellion being at an end and the country quite pacified. It will show that the rebels of India are rebels still, blood-thirsty and cruel to the last. They are wholly unworthy to be dealt with according to the laws of civilized nations. We had thought that we had seen the last of the mutinies, but, alas! another, and perhaps yet another, name will have to be added to the tablet about to be erected by the railway engineers at Cawnpore, in memory of their fallen brethren.

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'Indian mythics'
From the Railway Times, 7 November 1863, pp. 1438-9

The Times of Tuesday opened its crocodile jaws rather more widely than it could conveniently close, and it had, therefore, to submit to the indignity on Thursday of being treated like the veriest gobemouche. Ecce signum:

The professor of Hindustani, who rejoices in the cognomen of Syed Abdoollah, sought the intervention of the widely circulated journal (the Times catches at a puff quite as much as any of its penny compatriots) to call the attention of the Indian railway companies in England to a great evil, which has turned the Divine blessing of railways to a nuisance.

'There is no accommodation whatever for the travellers to rest or take refreshments, so much so that even water is procured after immense trouble. Hundreds of men are lying in the open maidan, which presents the appearance of a field of battle strewn with the dead. No Indian gentlemen of respectability think for a moment of allowing their females to travel by railway, simply for want of suitable and convenient accommodation. The Indian authorities ought certainly to lose no time in building such apartments at their stations as would ensure the comfort of male and female passengers of all castes and creeds. In carrying out this laudable object the opinions and feelings of educated and experienced Hindoos and Mussulmans should be consulted on the spot. There is another great nuisance at these stations, that the chuprassees and porters frequently oppress and ill-treat rustic passengers and subject them to various annoyances, unless their itching palms are greased by a few annas.'

To these random recollections a resident for twenty-five years in India replied as follows:-

'I do not deny that an evil is a nuisance, but I do deny the assertion that the evil complained of has any existence whatever, at least on one of the lines with which I have been connected - viz., the East Indian. On this line there is sufficient accommodation for every kind of passenger; and as for water, there is always more than abundance. If the natives choose to disperse over the "open maidan," instead of availing themselves of the spaciousness of the platforms, who is to blame? But the statement to which. this remark refers bears absurdity on the face of it; inasmuch, if passengers strayed so far from the line as to represent the dead on a battle-field, they could never possibly have time to retake their seats on the re-starting of the train. Referring to native female passengers, I have seen hundreds of the most respectable (purdah women) travelling by rail, and that, too, without the slightest symptom of fear of their privacy being intruded upon. With regard to the statement that "the feelings of educated and experienced Hindoos and Mussulmans should be consulted," I doubt whether [p.1439>]they have to complain at all upon this subject, although it is a matter of notoriety that the natives of India are never satisfied. We have had sufficient proof of this fact in 1857 and 1858. The charge against railway chuprassees and porters ill-treating "rustic passengers" is altogether unfounded, unless they are rusty passengers, as is often the case; then and then only do they experience the necessary operation of having the rust taken off them. Lastly, your correspondent states that, "as soon as the nuisance complained of is remedied the traffic would doubly increase." Now, whether the nuisance does or does not exist, the traffic would be the same as at present (and that is flourishing), for I have invariably remarked that the railway carriages are always crowded to excess by the natives, so that this mythical nuisance does not appear to interfere much with the passenger traffic of the line. On the whole, however, I am rather inclined to think that the respectable portion of the European community have much more cause of complaint than the natives with reference to railway travelling. The idea of a wealthy Hindoo, of Daniel Lambert proportions, well-oiled, and nearly nude (having a piece of cloth only girded around his loins - and that of the texture of the cobweb), thrusting himself, panting, blowing, and grunting, into a first-class carriage full of well-dressed English ladies, who frequently, to my personal knowledge, have been so affected in their olfactory nerves, as well as their visual organs, as to request the guard to remove them to some other carriage. The natives may complain, as is their characteristic, but, although they are placed on an equal footing with Europeans, Englishmen at home would be astonished at what their countrymen in India have to bear with among their sable brethren. They are endowed with far more privileges than we possess; for a sweep in England, no matter how wealthy, would not, I apprehend, be allowed to enter a railway carriage or a public place of amusement without first making himself decent."

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'Indian Railways: impediments to progress'
From the Railway Engineer, April 1884, p. 85

A remarkable paper which we published in our last issue explained with commendable clearness the position which the railways of India should occupy in relation to the productive powers and prosperity of that country. The author pointed out, with some force of argument, the very urgent necessity for more vigorous measures to promote and encourage the construction of railways. By an array of carefully-selected figures, he contrasted, with startling effect, the rapid development of the American railway system with the tardy and feeble progress of railway enterprise under the supervision of the Government of India, and sounded the key-note of an agitation which has awakened public interest at home.

Had he indicated with equal perspicuity the best means, consistent with the present State finances, to prosecute the needful works, he might have spared us much laborious enquiry and perplexity.

It was not his intention to elaborate any remedial scheme for the sluggishness which he believes to be crippling the industrial energies of our Indian Empire, and preventing her entering into competition with America in the supply of grain to Europe. To be eloquently exhaustive in the criticism of administrative shortcomings is always an easier task than to collect and weigh the evidence on which useful reforms can be effected.

All the surroundings and conditions of America and India are so utterly unlike that we may dismiss the comparison of railway progress in the two countries as practically worthless.

In India we have conditions, political, social, industrial, and geographical, which have no parallel in the history of the world: a great region, densely populated by races clinging tenaciously to institutions, customs, and habits centuries behind the ideas of Western civilisation, yet governed by a Western Power isolated by the ocean, and separated in religious sympathies by a widely different creed. The individual skill, courage, and indomitable energy of English statesmen and soldiers have built up this wondrous Empire, and have bequeathed to us the firm grip which we now hold over the destinies Of 300,000,000 of human beings. In our desire to advance the prosperity of this vast population, we must not forget the difficulties of the past, the high administrative ability which has overcome them, and the great dangers which still lie suppressed under the firm grasp of a watchful Government.

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'Railway Accidents in India'
From the Railway Times, 19 February 1887, p. 251

Recent returns show that the natives of India are by far the largest sufferers from railway accidents, though the number of accidents generally is happily on the decline. In the quarter ending June last there were 154 fewer accidents than on the corresponding quarter of the previous year. There was a considerable increase in the number of accidents on the Southern Bahratta, South Indian, and Oude and Rohilkand Railways, chiefly attributable to trains running over cattle on the line. But all the other lines showed a decrease. On the Eastern Bengal Railway three passengers were killed and five passengers and one ballast coolie injured by a collision at Habra between a down train and ballast train standing on the siding. The total number of persons, including passengers, servants, and others, as well as suicides, who lost their lives, was 104, as compared with 96 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, and of those injured 202, as against 230. No fewer than 95 passengers met their deaths in carriages and at stations from causes unconnected with the working of the trains. In England these casualties would represent a large sum in damages, but in India the only penalty they entail is a loss in rolling stock, in injury done to the line, and in the temporary interruption of traffic.

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'Personnel'
From the Indian Railway Gazette, 1 January 1908, pp. 4-5

If there was one point brought out with greater force than any other by the recent East Indian Railway strike, it was the absolute necessity for the presence, - on every railway in India, - of some individual, possessed of a strong personality, on the side of the employers and more than this the need which exists for railway officers to be not only experts in their own technical line, but also possessed of administrative ability of a definite order. The instance we have cited and the satisfactory outcome of what might have been a very serious disaster both to the Railway Company and to the travelling and commercial public, support our contention and is evidence of the fact that on the East Indian Railway such a personality does exist.

It must be remembered that in the country in which we live, men of many races are to be found, and, as a very natural consequence, men of these races are to be found gathered together in railway service. Scattered in one branch or another, in this department or that, of the average railway in India, the European from England, Sweden, Germany, Italy, in fact from half the nations of Europe, will be found working cheek by jowl with the Anglo-Indian, the Eurasian, ,the American or the Australian. On many lines the Parsee element is conspicuous by its strength, on others the native Christian or the heathen Chinee, while every line in the land is served by large numbers of Hindus and Mussalmen. West Indian and African negroes, as well as Goanese and Arabs are to be found, and these by no means complete the detail of the numerous and diverse races which railway officers are called upon, in one position or another, to command, to control, and, above all, to satisfy. It would be difficult, if not a matter of impossibility, to find on any other railway in the civilized world such a miscellaneous collection of the human race.

It is, therefore, sufficiently apparent that in the first place, it requires an official endowed with no small amount of ability to be able to handle men of such various nationalities, castes, creeds and customs at all, while to be able to handle them capably, that is, in a manner which renders them efficient servants of the Company and also leaves them satisfied employees, demands more than the mere possession of ability, - it demands that the official shall be possessed of (and exercise) tact, common-sense and discrimination, in short, that he shall be an administrator, in the sense that his personality shall dominate his command, extracting the utmost value obtainable from it for their common employers, but leaving it secure in the feeling that as a mediator between it and the higher official world above, its members may be certain of having their desires and wishes listened to and conveyed to the proper quarter with impartiality and justice. It may sound a lot and it may seem a lot to expect a railway officer to be able to do this, but there are many such who can, and who do. There are, also. unfortunately, many who, doubtless through no intentional fault of their own, cannot and do not. The whole trend of the railway officer's training in India has hitherto been to make him a technical expert in the branch in which he serves. The administration of staff has, apparently, been a point overlooked, a vital omission as events have proved. Has not, we venture to suggest, the time arrived when the question of promotion crops up in this period or that of a railway officer's service, for giving serious consideration to the administrative ability he possesses, as gauged by the manner in which he has managed the staff directly under him in the different grades he has occupied during the successive stages of his career? It must be remembered that we live in an age that has discovered the force and the value of unity, in a day that is well aware of the power of concerted action and in an age the depth of which, there can be no denying, is actuated by a mild form of Socialism. The warning emitted by the signs of the times cannot, nay, must not, pass unheeded, and he who can gauge them, can probe them, can control them, and, above all, gently guide them is the man for the moment, the man who should have the direction of affairs.

The need for perfect frankness exists and a little plain speaking does no harm at any time. We very much regret to say that we have, from time to time, found that in more than one station not only distrust, but definite ill-feeling exists between railway officers and their subordinates. These latter. speak freely, and, much as we regret to have to record it, we have frequently heard them applying names, the reverse of pleasing, to their immediate superiors. It is pleasant to be able to turn from this, and to say that we also [p.5>] know of many stations where the utmost good will and friendship prevail on both sides - officers and men pull together and the result is, and can be, nothing but good. One suggestion we offer, and we venture to think in our own minds it contains at least the elements of what is necessary to solve the problem. Let there be less transferring of both District Officers and men from district to district and station to station at frequent short intervals. Let the officers and men learn to know each other and, so to speak, grow old side by side in the service. To our certain knowledge the headquarters of the recent disaffection during the strike oil the East Indian Railway - Asansol - has been under the control of at least a dozen District Officers in half as many years. This kind of thing cannot be good, and we suggest it is harmful to that camaradie which, as we have pointed out, should exist if matters are to run smoothly and the interior mechanism of the line to run in well oiled grooves.

The aspect of the case as it appears to us, and, as we know, to many others, has been given, and there is little more to be said. Let thepersonnel of the superior supervising establishment of a line be characteristic, and let that characteristicness be administrative ability marked (which if it be present at all it must be marked with) with a genuine desire for the the good of all - irrespective of caste, creed or nationality. The result will be the steady and sustained growth of a better all round feeling of affection and good-will than appears to have existed in the past, and, we are afraid we must say, than is existent at present.

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'Railways in India'
From the Railway Gazette, 25 August 1911, pp. 173-4

They say in the Orient, 'First comes the Bible, then the British and then the railways.' All three generally come to stay. In India the three are working admirably.

India now possesses a vast railway system that stretches from Trichinopoly on the sea coast in the extreme south to the Khyber Pass in the further northern frontier among the high Himalayas; from Indus in the west to Brahmaputra in the east. And now the railway lines are penetrating the mountain fastnesses of Baluchistan to Quetta. They are also going down through wild country, through forests and over hills, southward beyond the Brahmaputra to meet the lines from Rangoon and Mandalay in Burmah. Between these furthest points the system has shot out many trunks and innumerable branches all over the great plains, connecting remote cities and industrial centres. All the chief cities of India are connected by railways. In fact they would not rank among the principal cities if they did not possess a railway station. Every year more towns and cities are entering the zone of the locomotive whistle, and the lines are breaking into new fields. The development is rapid.

The immense system is composed of six separate parts or nuclei working in harmony. They are: (1), the East Indian Railway (E.I.R.); (2), the Bombay, Baroda Railway (B.B.C.I.R.); (3), the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. (G.I.P.R.); (4), the Bengal-Nagpur Railway (5), the North-Western Railway (N.W.R.); (6), the South Indian Railway (S.I.R.). Beside these six distinct branches, which cover practically all India, there are many smaller systems that serve the districts in the interiors and parts far away from the main trunk lines. The E.I.R., the oldest of the systems, covers the eastern parts with its terminus at Howrah, a suburb of Calcutta. The B.B.C.I.R. has its headquarters in Bombay, which is the terminus of other lines as well. Nagpur is the central station of the B.N.R., which accommodates the public of the central provinces. The S.I.R. is focussed at Madras on the cast coast of the Southern Indian Peninsula. The names are a good guide to the regions each system supplies.

Most of these systems, forming one great unit, although nominally the enterprise of private companies, are heavily subsidised by the Indian Government and are more or less under its control. This is almost a necessity, for the rails are primarily laid for the easier transportation of troops. Under such conditions there is no competition, and though the service is efficient it lacks the stimulus of competition.

In the independent native States, the railways are built, maintained and managed by the State treasuries. The officers and higher employees, even of the independent native State railways, are nearly all Europeans. The stationmaster, the enginedriver, and the guards are Europeans. The guards or conductors on some lines are Parois and Hindus, but only a very small number occupy this position. Perhaps in all India there is not one engine driver who is a native of the land, though there are many Indian stationmasters in small, out-of-the-way places, where, perhaps, only one passenger train stops in 24 hours. The clerks and telegraphists are mostly Indians. It is of course British policy to maintain such a personnel, for there are many efficient natives, well able to perform the duties of the various departments.

Each train for passenger service is made up of four classes: First class, second class, intermediate class and third class. The first and second classes are used by Government officials and the wealthy. The intermediate is used by middle class Indians and the poorer Europeans. The third class is used almost exclusively by the Indian travelling public. In both the intermediate and third classes, separate compartments are provided for Europeans and women.

The first and second classes are well furnished. The long seats are covered with leather and are soft and springy. At night they are used as sleeping bunks. In each compartment, and there are two in each car, are hung two hammocks for sleeping purposes. In the day time they are pushed up out of sight. Sometimes the inner walls of the compartments are fitted with folding bunks, such as one finds in the cabins of old-fashioned steamers. The first and second classes are invariably supplied with bathrooms, so that the traveller can enjoy the luxury of the tub. The water which is carried on the roof is replenished frequently at the larger stations. In summer the windows are fitted with rotating fans, that force moist, cooled air through dripping khus khus (a species of tall grass) mats. These luxuries are a necessity in the burning sun of the Indian plains. The intermediate and third classes are fitted with long bare wooden benches that stretch across the width of the car. Each compartment contains two such benches facing each other. The compartments, of which there are six in a car, are divided by long iron bars, and look for all the world like a travelling circus cage. Sometimes even the windows are barred. There is no kind of sleeping accommodation, and absolutely no pretence of comfort. The poor unfortunates, who are obliged to ride in these cages are huddled together like wild beasts. No Siberian transport carrying exiles could be much worse. Yes, the passengers do complain, but-

The track is broad gauge; that is, 5 ft. gauge. That is one reason why Indian cars look so heavy and cumbersome. But [p.174>] plenty of elbow room is required in that hot climate. The subway and Brooklyn Rapid Transit crushes would mean apoplexy and sudden death. It cannot be said, for all that, that Indian cars are luxurious and up to date. There is no competition, therefore the railway companies do not find themselves called on to furnish anything more than bare necessities. They still use those antediluvian gas lamps, dropped in at sunset from the roof. It is impossible to regulate their glare; generally the weary traveller pulls a green shade over it when he wants to sleep. Or just at the exciting part of a railway penny dreadful the gas gives out and the compartment is left in darkness. These are some of the inconveniencies that the Indian traveller suffers. Yet, one must be thankful that there is a train at all.

Although there is not much fear of accidents, on the busiest lines, every train is fitted with vacuum brakes. A collision in India must partake of the nature of a phenomenon. Except at about a score of points not four trains run through in an hour. There are countless numbers of stations through which only one passenger train passes in 12 hours. However, the service is sufficient. It is not so very long ago that railway trains were regarded with fear, as something preternatural, by the ignorant peasantry of outlying districts. To-day the fear is gone, but still the train is viewed with much curiosity. To travel in a train is still a great achievement with untold thousands. The traveller will return to his village, and, as the people gossip at the noon hour under the spreading banyan tree in the middle of the village, will relate his experiences as something of surpassing wonder; and his fellows will look up to him as one who has entered a field outside the realms of human labour and invention, and straightway he gains a prestige in the community: even a reputation for wisdom, as one who has ridden in a train and seen something of the vast world beyond the shades of the village roofs. These simple villagers call trains 'howah garry,' meaning 'air carriages.' How near they are to the truth these innocent hamleteers do not imagine!

The railway is undoubtedly one of the greatest blessings that has followed in the wake of the British occupation of India. Great cities have grown greater, and scores of insignificant towns have developed into centres of immense industries. Fertile lands, difficult of access, have been brought within the scope of profitable commerce. The farmers can sell their products more easily, and buy the conveniences the cities supply without much trouble. Employment is offered to thousands, who would otherwise find it harder to live. Large tracts of country, hidden in oblivion for centuries are opened up for improvement. Bombay has been brought near to Calcutta and Delhi to Madras. That in itself is a great achievement, in a country where people seldom travel beyond the limits of their landlord's territory, where the next village, a few miles away, is too far to reach in a lifetime. Good government is made possible, something utterly beyond the imagination in India without easy and rapid modes of transit, for it is a country half the size of the States with a population nearly three times as great. But above all, the railway has helped to circulate common ideas, new ones, from village to village, from city to city, from east to west and north to south. What that means to and for India no one who has not lived in India and studied Indian life will be able to realise. No country in the world, not even China, has such a heterogeneous population, with heterogeneous creeds, beliefs, ideas, ideals and languages as India. The railway has made possible a common standard of civilisation in India, and is knitting together three hundred million individuals into one compact mass of humanity with a potential energy for good or bad that no imagination has yet dreamed of calculating. What greater work can any human invention do in any clime?

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'Opening of the Khyber Railway'
From the Railway Gazette, 6 November 1925, p. 598

The construction of the Khyber Railway - linking India and Afghanistan - one of the most remarkable lines in the world, was described at some length in a fully illustrated article in The Railway Gazette for May 9, 1924. On Monday last, the 2nd inst., news came of the formal opening of the line, on that day, by Sir Charles Innes, the Railway Member of the Governor-General's Council, acting on behalf of the Viceroy.

Sir C. Hindley, the Chief Commissioner of Railways, said the work was one of which the railwaymen were intensely proud. The great engineering difficulties which had been overcome and the standard to which the railway had been built rendered it a technical achievement ranking with the greatest engineering work carried out by any of their predecessors. The work of location had a history of half a century, but not till 1920 had the Government of India decided to extend the standard 5 ft. 6 in. gauge railway through the Pass. To Colonel Hearn belonged the credit of locating one of the most brilliant pieces of work carried out by British engineers in the country.

Sir Charles Innes read a special message from the Viceroy, in which he congratulated Sir C. Hindley, the Chief Commissioner of Railways, and his engineers on the brilliant consummation of their labours, and Mr. Bolton, Acting Commissioner of the North West Frontier Province, the political officers, the Commander-in-Chief and the Army, on their share in making those labours lighter.

Sir Charles Innes, in the course of a speech, heartily congratulated the railwaymen on their achievement. Touching upon the broad aspect of the matter, he asked his audience to remember that the problem was not merely a physical one. Not engineering skill alone had made the railway. At first the tribesmen were inclined to resent the intrusion of the railway into their mountain fastnesses. Their suspicion gradually gave way to goodwill and goodwill ripened into co-operation. The railway was one more addition to the long list of enduring monuments in India to the genius of British engineering.

The effect of the railway would naturally be to develop trade through the Pass, but he was thinking of more. Lord Curzon's words expressed their hopes to-day. 'As the people trade together, they get to know each other better. Every line of frontier railway we build will turn out in the long run to be a link in the chain of friendship as well as peace.'

Proceeding, Sir Charles said that the tribesmen during the construction period had been brought under the civilising influences of this railway. He hoped that influence would continue and that the railway would bring profit and honourable employment to many tribesmen, and that commerce with Afghanistan would increase.

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'Indian Railways and the Punjab Disturbances'
From the Railway Gazette, 3 October 1947, p. 390

The widespread disturbances throughout the Punjab and neighbouring territories, resulting from the partition of India on August 15. have thrown great burdens on the two new railways into which the old North Western system now has been divided - the Pakistan N.W.R. and Indian Eastern Punjab Railway.

A programme of special personnel and baggage trains had been arranged to transfer those officials of the old Government of India in Delhi, who had elected to serve in Pakistan, to Karachi, the capital of Pakistan, and for several days this programme worked smoothly. Then, however, it was interrupted rudely by the mining, derailment, and subsequent attack on one of these specials while passing through Eastern Punjab. Though trains were diverted immediately by another route and one or two got through without molestation, the whole situation on both sides of the border by this time had got out of hand, and the movement by rail of the Pakistan Government personnel had to be cancelled.

At a later date some members of this staff and their families were sent, however, from Delhi by the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway metre-gauge line to Marwar Junction, and thence by the Jodhpur Railway to Hyderabad (Sind), on the N.W.R. main line, over which they completed the journey to Karachi. This arrangement worked well, for a time, until the disturbances spread to the Delhi area, when this route also became unsafe. As no land route remained available, the remaining 5,000 officials and their families were flown in 25 aircraft, chartered from B.O.A.C., operating an intensive shuttle service between Delhi and Karachi.

Attacks on trains and fuel shortage

Meanwhile communal disturbances in Lahore seriously affected the attendance of railway staff to their duties, not only because of the danger involved in going to and coming from work, but also due to the natural desire of employees to remain at home to protect their families and property. The immediate effect was the cancellation of trains for want of crews. Communal trouble also spread to rural areas, where trains were stopped and attacked, and men, women, and children passengers were murdered. An accomplice of the attackers often travelled in an attacked train and pulled the communication cord at the spot where the ambush was laid. As a result, train crews refused to work trains across the border, and still further dislocation of traffic ensued. For a time, all supplies of coal to the Pakistan N.W.R. ceased, as the only normal routes by which they can be received are via the new Eastern Punjab Railway. A severely restricted service of passenger and goods trains was introduced forthwith and is still in force, but some coal has been received subsequently, both by rail and by sea, at Karachi; stocks, however, are still dangerously low.

Despite the formation of the military Punjab Boundary Force - since disbanded - whose duties primarily included protection of running trains and station staff on both sides of the boundary, attacks on trains persisted, until finally no train could be run in the boundary area without a military escort. The limited strength of the Boundary Force restricted the numbers of escorts available, and very few trains, therefore, could be run.

Eventually, the whole of the Punjab and the surrounding areas became embroiled, and the mass movements of refugees to and from India began. Many hundreds of railway employees left their posts and fled with their families. More and more trains were attacked, and their passengers, murdered or wounded, were thrown out on the track in many instances. Stations became thronged with refugees, and sanitary arrangements were completely inadequate. At one time pitched battles took place on platforms thus crowded, and the dead lay about for days. Small wonder, therefore, that chaos and cholera resulted.

To complicate matters further, many officers on both sides of the boundary were new to their jobs; Muslims had moved from India to Pakistan, and Hindus from Western Punjab to India. Their lack of local knowledge was in many cases a serious handicap to efficient working.

More recently, however, the position on both sides of the boundary has been brought under better control, and assaults have decreased considerably,* but the railway situation still is far from satisfactory. Replacement of staff that has fled has not materialised from over the border, and shortage of coal and the necessity for train escorts near the boundary are restricting services greatly. Stations have had to be closed for want of staff. As many refugee specials as possible continue to be run from places where, in many instances, tens of thousands of people have collected, and refugees, food, oil, and coal have priority but cannot be moved in the numbers or quantity desired. Throughout the disturbances the Karachi-Lahore mails and 'Frontier Mails' between Delhi and Rawalpindi have run almost every day, though timekeeping is impossible, partly by reason of out-of-course stops at wayside stations to distribute food and pick up refugees.

In the second week of September the disturbances spread from the Punjab to certain parts of the United Provinces, affecting communications between Delhi and the ports. The G.I.P.R and B.B. & C.I.R. terminated their services to the North-East at Muttra, and the B.B. & C.I.R. metre-gauge services in and out of Delhi were suspended.

Even when the country has settled down again, the task ahead of the railways will be very great. Their chief difficulties will be to settle in and train new staff, sort out everything, build up balances of stocks of fuel and other materials, and overtake arrears of maintenance, that have accumulated to an alarming extent.

* Since this article was received, an attack on a Moslem refugee train at Amritsar resulted in 3,000 passengers being killed; and 340 Hindus and Sikhs were killed when several thousand Moslems made a reprisal attack on a refugee train at Kamoke, 25 miles from Lahore, on September 24.

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'Mahatma Ghandi's cremation special'
From the Railway Gazette, 5 March 1948, p.276

Mahatma Ghandi's Asthi (the Indian name for the ashes removed from the funeral pyre), was conveyed by a special train from Delhi to Allahabad for immersion at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Jamna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers. The train left Delhi at 6.30 a.m. on February 11, and reached Allahabad the next day at 9 a.m. The rake of the special consisted of five freshly-painted third class bogies, of which the centre coach had been modified suitably to carry the copper urn containing the Mahatma's ashes.

The middle compartment of the centre carriage was converted into a hall by removing the wooden benches. A large table, covered with the tri-colour national flag of India, was fixed in the centre of the compartment, and on it was placed the palanquin supporting the urn. Overhead was another national flag serving as a canopy. The floor was covered with white hand-spun cloth, called khaddi, from which also were made curtains for the doors. Three lights were fixed on pedestals on each side of the table to floodlight the urn, which was visible to the millions who marched past the carriage in the early hours of February 11 at New Delhi, and throughout the following day and night at stations en route.

The special carriage was distinguishable by the national flags flying half-mast fixed on either side. The Asoka Chakra and the lion's seal, the national emblem. were painted outside the coach. Communication between the Asthi compartment and the compartments on each side was provided by removing the wooden partitions. These compartments carried the near relatives and close associates of Mahatma Gandhi, important political leaders, and officials. The rest of the train was occupied by the Mahatma's select devotees and pressmen. Police and military guards took positions in four corners of the hall and stood on each side of the compartment.

The running of the train had been planned in great detail. It was arranged that the centre of the special coach should be opposite the main entrance of the ceremonial platform and the stopping stations en route. To ensure this, a whitewash band, 6 in. wide, was drawn on the platforms and the permanent way to enable the driver to stop accurately. A pilot covered the route 20 min. ahead of the train, which was under the direct control of an officer of the rank of Divisional Superintendent. Senior officers were posted at all important points on the journey. The train was seen off by the Prime Minister and Dr. John Matthai, Minister of Transport, who laid the Ministry of Railways' wreath in front of the urn. The Chief Commissioner of Railways, Mr. K. C. Baklile, travelled in the special carriage.

All the persons who travelled on the train were required to carry their own food with them. This precautionary step was taken to keep off vendors of foodstuffs, who would have been in the way of the huge crowds, which thronged the stations to have a glimpse of the Asthi. Passengers on the train and those present on the platform were required to remain bare-headed and were forbidden to smoke and chew betel leaves. To mark the solemnity of the occasion, station bells were not rung for the arrival and departure of the special; the blowing of one short whistle by the guard and a short blast by the driver served as the starting signals.

In spite of the crowds, the train ran punctually to the minute and covered its long journey without incident. This was a fitting tribute by the railwaymen of India to Mahatma Gandhi, who valued punctuality and orderliness highly. Their performance on this occasion was acknowledged by the Minister of Transport during the course of his budget speech in the Indian Parliament on February 16.

The special third class carriage which carried the Asthi is to be preserved as a national memorial and has been sent to Lillooah Workshops, where is kept also a coach used by another great Indian, Dr. Rabindra Nath Tagore, on his last journey from Santiniketan to Calcutta.

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'Indian Railway Centenary Celebrations'
From the Railway Gazette, 15 May 1953, p. 574

The Indian Railway Centenary Day celebrations were held on April 16 in the Railway Exhibition grounds at New Delhi. Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Minister for Transport & Railways; Mr. 0. V. Alaggesan, Deputy Minister; Mr. Shah Nawaz, Parliamentary Secretary; Members of the Railway Board and senior railway officials received Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the Vice-President, at the New Delhi ceremonial platform. Dr. Radhakrishnan deputised for Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the President, who was indisposed. After inspecting the guard of honour provided by the Northern Railway, he was conducted to the special train arranged to take the party to the exhibition grounds, where a large audience including Cabinet Ministers, diplomats, and senior officials awaited.

Mr. S. S. Vasist, Member for Transportation, Railway Board, said that today the Indian railway system was the largest in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. The capital outlay, Rs.38 lakhs in 1853, was Rs.862 crores in 1951-52. It was to be hoped that before long the railways would not only be meeting the current requirements of trade and industry but also developing facilities and services to get ahead of the nation's expanding industrialisation. Mr. Vasist then introduced to the audience Mr. Durga Manoo, the oldest serving railwayman in India, who was appointed on the Indian Midland Railway in 1900.

The Minister for Transport & Railways recalled that railways appeared in India at a. time when there were scarcely any internal communications worth the name and nothing could have been more welcome to the country than the changes which they brought about. The second world war and the partition of the country which followed profoundly affected the Indian railways. Nevertheless in six years their progress had been such as to satisfy the severest critic. The railways had been regrouped successfully into six zonal systems, an organisational change of far-reaching importance. Dismantled lines had been restored and new lines opened. Chittaranjan works was now producing locomotives and a large coach building works at Perambur was being built.

Dr. Radhakrishnan, to whom the Minister for Transport & Railways presented a commemorative volume on Indian railways, looked forward to a lessening of international tension which would release more money for constructive purposes and therefore enable them to allot more funds to the railways. He congratulated the Railway Minister, the members of the Railway Board and every railwayman on the success which they had achieved.

A documentary film entitled 'A Century of Progress' was then shown, with a running commentary on the developments during the period. In the evening there was a centenary dinner in the exhibition grounds.

The day was observed as a holiday on all railways, and celebrations also were held at other places. That at the Victoria Terminus in Bombay had a special significance as the first train in India ran from Bombay (Borce-Bunder) to Thana. At the meeting held in the afternoon of April 16, attended by Mr. F. C. Badhwar. Chairman of the Railway Board, Mr. Gida Shanker Bajpai, Governor of Bombay, presided. Mr. H. P. Hira, General Manager, Central Railway, who welcomed the guests, traced the development of the system to its present mileage and organisation. Mr. Badhwar compared the function to a birthday party, and added that as presents were usual on such occasions the public might offer one in the form of consideration and understanding of their problems. Mr. Bajpai praised the efficient work of the railwaymen. There was an exhibition of old and new rolling stock, and models.

At a meeting of the officers and staff of the Western Railway at Bombay, held on the lawns adjoining the Churchgate Building, Mr. K. P. Mushran, General Manager, spoke on the importance of the occasion. At Calcutta there was a celebration at the Garden Reach office of the Eastern Railway, presided over by Dr. H. C. Mukerjee, Governor of Bengal. Mr. K. B. Mathur, General Manager of the Eastern Railway, reviewed in a speech the history and progress of the system. The Governor's speech referred appreciatively to the contributions made by railways to the economic progress of the country. Dr. B. C. Rey, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, emphasised the importance of the railways to the economy of Eastern India. A the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway at Goraklipur, Mr. G. Pande, General Manager, addressed the officers and staff.

Headquarters offices, workshops and important stations were illuminated on all railways. The illuminations at Victoria and Churchgate, Bombay. were elaborate and attracted thousands of sightseers. At Delhi, the main station and the headquarters offices at Baroda House and at Calcutta the Fairlie Place offices, and Howrah and Sealdah stations were illuminated. Undeterred by an electricity cut, the Southern Railway brought out wick and oil lamps to illuminate the frontage of Egmore Station, Madras, in a manner reminiscent of the Deepavali, or Festival of Lights.

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Compiled by Dr Ralph Harrington, Institute of Railway Studies & Transport History, York.