Along the iron veins that traverse the frame of our country, beat and flow the fiery pulses of its exertion, hotter and faster every hour. All vitality is concentrated through those throbbing arteries into the central cities; the country is passed over like a green sea by narrow bridges, and we are thrown back in continually closer crowds on the city gates.
John Ruskin
In a country as diverse and plural as India, railways is more than a mode of transport. Its the glue that binds us and probably the greatest of all the national institutes. With its humble beginning in 1853 and a track length of around 34 kms, it now is a behemoth with running track length of 90,000 kms, handling more than a billion tons of traffic and in process being one of world's single biggest employer. Did i mention average rate of transporting 1 ton of freight over a kilometers costs Rs. 1.20(less than 2 cents). India today, country's leading news magazines,once mentioned, that if one goes by pure statistics, it would appear that Indian railway exists only to delight trivia buffs.
We begin this story with trade between British India and Rest of the World after Britain took control of administration after First war of independence from East India Company. Britain realized that to keep the country under one rule, it will need to move its troops quickly. it was also dabbling on how to bring the commodities meant for shipment to England to ports quickly. The answer well lied with railways. Unlike in Africa, where tropical rivers provided waterways, India was a dry land and waterway wasn't a solution. There began a journey of setting first rails in country's hinterland connected to ports and in these modest lines lied future of one of the biggest rail networks in the world.
Since British movement of passengers and goods was primarily through sea, several big ports were established in 18th century that grew bigger with time. From the three corners of country namely Calcutta in East, Madras in South and Bombay in West, originated railway lines, that clamoured to reach Delhi. These lines were isolated sections initially but as these progressed, the whole of country was covered eventually, providing a seamless even if rudimentary at times, connectivity. Won't be exaggeration to say, that these lines brought an amazing prosperity to places they connected.
Bombay (now Mumbai)
Opening of Suez canal in 1869 revolutionized the sea trade originating in Asia and more specifically India as it drastically cut down shipping time between the Region and Europe. Mumbai was first beneficiary of this development along with Karachi port. The heavy shipping traffic originating in India led to development of Sasson Dock in 1875 and subsequently followed by Prince's Dock in 1880 and Victoria docks in 1888. More docks and upgradations took place subsequently.
The major freight originating from the port was Cotton,Food Grains and Cash crops and raw materials including minerals, imports like Heavy machinery also formed bulk of traffic handled.
In order to cater for the growth of traffic, Bombay Port Trust to develop lines that connected to Main lines that originated from Victoria terminus (Present Day's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus named after legendary Martha King).
Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) was one of the first companies in India to lay its rail tracks originating from Bombay (presently Mumbai).
These lines ran initially upto Thane and later extending to all parts of country. Pune and Kolhapur and later Madras in South, Nagpur and later Calcutta (erstwhile Bengal Nagpur Railways) in East and Itarsi, Bhopal , Delhi and up to Peshawar in North. It must be mentioned here that the entire network consisted of several smaller rail companies that were operating and building new lines as per British administration's Guaranteed Railway System (meaning a fixed return on investment was guaranteed to the builder). These lines allowed quick and reliable mode of transport of prized commodities like Cotton, Food Grain, Tobacco and Jute.
While all this was happening, Bombay Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) was developing its own network for connecting Bombay to Northern parts of India, serving what is present day states of Gujarat, Rajasthan and further North Uttar Pradesh & Delhi. The Lines ran further North through Punjab (undivided India) upto Peshawar, the last outpost of British India before Afghanistan. However Freight traffic in these lines was not significant, primarily owing to the fact that Colaba Port mainly catered for Passenger Traffic.
Calcutta (now Kolkata)
Elsewhere in East, calcutta (presently Kolkata) Port was developing as another major trading hub. While dry docks were established sometime circa 1712 (near old Fort William), in 1870 all the docks were consolidated under one port trust. Owing to its location, Calcutta port commanded a huge hinterland area extending right upto Jammu and Kashmir including Nepal and almost all of Gangetic plains and Eastern India. Today the system is served by two different ports namely Kolkata and Haldia.
As with Bombay, the large traffic at Kolkata required development of rail network that facilitated movement of goods. The port trust developed its own system that was connected with Eastern and South East Railways that allowed movement from hinterland to port.
East india Railway company was established in 1845 and it began construction of Calcutta-Delhi rail line. While operations began in 1854 with train running between Howrah and Hooghly, rapid construction of lines running almost parallel to river Ganga, saw completion of entire stretch of railway lines (Barring bridge over river Yamuna at Allahabad). In 1866, with completion of Bridge at Allahabad, Calcutta and Delhi were connected and first Train 1 Down/2 Up (present day 12311/12312 Kalka Mail) ran on these tracks. Calcutta got direct rail connection to Bombay in 1900 with connection of GIPR and BNR lines. The railway station of Nagpur is today a junction of North South (Delhi Chennai) and East West (Mumbai Kolkata) lines.
One interesting thing about Eastern line was that it passes through Chotta Nagpur Plateau and gangetic plains. In terms of freight in translates to a line criss crossing arguably the most fertile plains in country and a land blessed with abundant mineral resources especially Coal and Iron along with Bauxite. For anyone trying to run rails on this region, it meant constant source of revenue. As we will discuss later, this section is one of the busiest railway sections (presently operating at close to 140% of its saturation level) in country.
Madras (now Chennai)
Present day state of Tamil Nadu was once ruled by powerful dynasties The Pallavas, the Cholas and the Pandyas. this was a period of glory and great economic and social growth and it goes without saying that maritime trade too developed rapidly with trade between countries like Java, Sumatra etc. The city of Madras (now Chennai) had its sea port opened in 1881 and owing to its location, rapidly became one of the biggest ports in Indian (in terms of traffic handled). Today it is second largest seaport in country behind Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai.
the first rail company to be established in this part of the world was Madras Railway in year 1845 and it began operations on Royapuram Arcot line in 1856.
The line slowly expanded towards bangalore (1864) and it was connected to GIPR lines at Raichur in 1871 thereby connecting Madras with Bombay. As lines expanded further north, a direct connection was established between Delhi and Madras (it came quite late in 1929, as several sections got completed). Madras and calcutta got direct connectivity in 1901 with a major port city of Visakhapatnam (in Andhra pradesh) on the line.
By the time World War I arrived in 1914, all major cities were directly connected to each other through rail and trade flourished and central parts of country was connected to large population centers and ports.
While it wasn't easy, but it was now possible for a person at any major city to travel to another major city through train. The country truly was united as one for the first time in History.
By the time India gained her independence in 1947, railways had become nation's biggest employer and spinal chord of economy carrying more freight, earning more revenue and exerting more influence than any other national institute.
