East Indian Railway: 1906 History of the EIR - Chapter I
Note: This is a sub-section of the East Indian Railway
The History of the East Indian Railway by George Huddleston. Published 1906 by Tracker, Spins and Co
CHAPTER I. FORMATION OF THE EAST INDIAN RAILWAY ORIGINAL IDEA TO CONNECT CALCUTTA WITH DELHI —THE FIRST CONTRACT COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION -OPENING OF LINE AS FAR AS RANEEGUNGE.
IN May, 1845, or about twenty years after the construction of the first railroad in England, the East Indian Railway Company, was organised. The earliest report of the Directors to the Shareholders was not made, however, until nearly two years later; the interval having been passed in negotiations with the Honourable East India Company, and in the preparation of estimates of cost and of traffic, as well as in a survey of the country through which the proposed line would pass.
At this time, the Chairman was Sir George Larpent, the Deputy Chairman, Mr. Bazett D. Colvin, and the Managing Director, Mr. R. Macdonald Stephenson. Of these, Mr., afterwards, Sir R. Macdonald Stephenson, may be said to have been the founder of the Company, for he it was who first introduced the idea of railroads in India, and advocated the construction of the East Indian line almost along the same route that it now traverses.
It was in July, 1845, that Mr. Macdonald Stephenson, accompanied by three well qualified assistants, proceeded to Bengal and on arrival in Calcutta commenced, in the Board's words, "with diligence and discretion 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 the whole line were completed; important statistical information obtained and an elaborate report transmitted to your Directors in London."
All trace of this report, excepting only the statistics of cost and estimates of traffic has been lost, but it strongly impressed the Board with the conviction that a line from Calcutta to Delhi not only possessed political advantages of the highest order, but that it would also prove a success as a commercial speculation. The statistical information obtained by Mr. Stephenson, showed that although the cost of introducing an entirely new system of locomotion in a country such as India, was necessarily subject to some uncertainty, yet, there were good grounds for anticipating that the maximum expenditure on a double line of railway from Calcutta to Delhi, through Mirzapore, assuming that the Government would grant the necessary land without charge, would not exceed £15,000 per mile. It was also calculated that without any increase of the existing traffic, that is to say, of the traffic then forwarded by river and road, a large dividend might be looked for.
From the outset, the Court of Directors of the Honourable East India Company, shared with the Directors of the East Indian Railway Company, the view that the benefit to be derived by India from the introduction of a railroad system was beyond question, but circumstances in the political and monetary state of India were constantly changing, while there was no certainty of the London share market. Very great caution was therefore needed in conducting the preliminary negotiations for the construction of so great a national work, involving so large a capital outlay, in a country so distant and at the time so little known.
Terms were proposed in the first instance, which would now seem to have been sufficiently liberal, though the then Board did not think so, and ultimately obtained substantial modifications. The first conclusions of the East India Company, and what they were prepared to do towards the introduction of a railway system in India, may however be summarised as follows:
1st. That it was deemed of great importance to connect the seat of the Supreme Government of India with the North-West Provinces.
2nd. That provided no serious difficulty, arising out of the physical character of the country, was found to exist, the line of the first Railway in India should be from Calcutta to Delhi through Mirzapore.
3rd. That the Honourable East India Company were prepared to sanction the construction of two sections of that line, one in the Lower and the other in the Upper Provinces; to grant the land for the Railway free of all cost for ninety-nine years; to advance interest at four per cent. per annum for fifteen years, on the capital to be employed on these sections not exceeding £3,000,000 sterling; to commence paying such interest so soon as the contract should be arranged, and to receive repayment thereof when the profits of the line should exceed four per cent.
After much correspondence these terms were modified, the chief points conceded by the East India Company being that the rate of interest should be raised from 4 to 5 per cent., and that the term during which this interest would be paid should be raised from 15 to 25 years. The revised terms were accepted by the Directors "with a grateful sense of the liberal manner in which they had been treated by the East India Company," and the belief was expressed that the undertaking " whilst it will prove a great blessing to the Empire, will afford the means of a safe and profitable investment to individuals."
It should here be mentioned, that other interests conflicting with the East Indian Railway Company had at this time to be considered; another Company had been formed, shortly after the East Indian, known as the "Great Western of Bengal Railway," for the purpose of constructing a line from Calcutta to Rajmahal, to be carried over a portion of the projected main line of the East Indian Railway, and entering into competition with the branch to Rajmahal, contemplated by that railway. It was considered expedient to amalgamate the interests of the two companies, and this was done on terms unnecessary to detail.
Towards the end of 1847, the Board having taken into consideration the arrangements best calculated to give effect to the Company's operations in India, came to the conclusion, that "the interests of the undertaking would be best consulted by the appointment in India of a Committee of gentlemen, independent of local interest or connection, and who should be entirely and wholly subject to the control of the Board in London," and in pursuance of this policy two gentlemen "of talent and experience" (Messrs. Adams and Beeston) were appointed to act, conjointly with Mr. Stephenson, as their representatives in India, and these three sailed to India on the 20th September, 1847, accompanied by a staff of Engineers carefully selected by the Company's Consulting Engineer, Mr. James Rendel, the father of the present Consulting Engineer, Sir A. M. Rendel.
So far, once preliminary negotiations had been settled, it had been plain sailing, but unfortunately difficulties now arose which took some time to overcome. Various documents both anonymous and otherwise were circulated, and advertised in the public newspapers and elsewhere, in which endeavours were made to prove that the proposed line could not pay, certain of the Directors resigned, and some of the proprietors delayed settlement of calls on their shares, with the result that financial difficulties followed, and the staff sent out to India had to be recalled.
In the meantime, there were renewed negotiations with the Honourable East India Company, which took up a couple of years, but ultimately on the 17th of August, 1849, a contract was come to between the East India Company of the one part and the East Indian Railway Company of the other part, in which the two agreed to co-operate in the construction "of a line of Railway from Calcutta towards the Upper Provinces", on certain conditions, the most important being:—
(1). That the East Indian Railway Company should pay into the Treasury of the East India Company, £1,000,000.
(2). That the East India Company should select the route and direction of a line of railway to be constructed as an experimental line; such line to commence at Calcutta or within 10 miles of Calcutta, and to take such a direction as to form part of a line either to Mirzapore or to Rajmahal, at the option of the East India Company. Such selected line to be completed by the Railway Company, and opened for the conveyance of passengers and goods with all practicable speed.
(3 ). That the East India Company should provide the land required for the railway and for stations, offices and so forth.
(4). That the East Indian Railway Company should make such gradients, furnish rails of such weight and strength, and provide either single or double line as the East India Company would direct, and should also provide electric telegraphs and perform all such directions as might from time to time be given by the East India Company.
(5). That the Railway Company should provide a good and sufficient working stock and perform the duties of common carriers of goods and passengers, and allow the use of the railway to the public on terms to be approved by the East India Company, and charge such fares as should be approved by the East India Company.
(6). That the railway Company, its officers and servants, accounts and affairs be subject to the control and superintendence of the East India Company, and that all expenses be submitted for their sanction.
(7). That the Railway and its works be kept in a state of good repair to the satisfaction of the East India Company.
(8). That the East India Company pay the Railway Company interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the £1,000,000 paid to the East India Company, and that if the expenditure of the railway should exceed this sum, and further capital be raised, interest at the same rate be paid on it also.
(9). That the Railway Company convey the Government mails and post bags and servants of the post-office free of charge and convey troops and other Government officers and servants specified at reduced fares.
(10). That the railway become the property of the East India Company after 99 years, the engines, carriages, stock, machines, and plant being paid for at a valuation.
The railway also had the right to surrender the line to the East India Company and the East India Company had a right of purchase on certain conditions, at any time within six months after the expiration of the first twenty-five years.
Such briefly were the terms of the first contract, and it seems unnecessary to detail the obstacles that had to be overcome before it was entered upon. For some years the Board were confronted with difficulties and opposed by persons whose interest seems to have been to prove that a railway, such as proposed, could not possibly pay. A Mr. John Bourne, for example, who had been a surveyor in the employment of the Company, advocated that a single line of railway laid upon the Grand Trunk road to Mirzapore, was all that was needed, and endeavoured to prove that a section of 150 miles out of Calcutta could not be profitable; he estimated the revenue on the traffic of the district between Calcutta and Burdwan, and putting this at a very low figure calculated that the working expenses, maintenance and depreciation would be so enormous that the outside dividend to be looked for would be under 2 per cent. on the capital. Mr. James Rendel disagreed entirely with Mr. Bourne's figures and estimated that even if his forecast of traffic was correct, a dividend of over 7 per cent. was far more probable.
But this is only an instance of the criticism of the period. Others held that natives would not travel by railway, and that there was little need in a country like India which had river transport available, to construct a railroad for the movement of merchandise, which, they held, could not be carried by rail as cheaply as by river or road, while speed was no object. There were indeed many opponents to the scheme, but as the Board remarked at the time: "In the introduction of an undertaking so vast and distant there must always be difficulties in the first instance to surmount, but when the stake which the nation possesses in the interests of India, and the results likely to attend the introduction of railways into that country, are considered, the Board cannot doubt the disposition of all the authorities connected with the Government of India, to give those encouragements to the object, which are indispensable to induce capitalists to embark their money in it."
Among the most indefatigable workers on behalf of the Company was Mr. Stephenson, and that this was recognised at the time is apparent from a resolution of the shareholders recorded in 1849-1850:-
"That in consideration of the services rendered by Mr. R. Macdonald Stephenson to this Company, and of the extraordinary exertions made, and the risks encountered by him, in introducing the railroad system into India, embracing three journeys to India and the survey of many hundred miles of railroad - it is the feeling of this meeting that he should be allowed a compensation for himself, and his family after his decease, by way of a percentage on the net profits, which, over and above 5 per cent. shall be received by the shareholders on the capital invested in the experimental section of railway now contemplated, and that the Directors be requested to take into consideration the rate of such percentage and submit the same to a future meeting of the proprietors."
The Directors subsequently recommended 5 per cent. as a suitable allowance, and Mr. Stephenson must have felt exceedingly satisfied. He embarked for India again in March 1850, together with Mr. George Turnbull, the Resident Engineer-in-Chief, and in less than a year the first section of the Company's proposed line was finally determined upon. "The Authorities," in the words of the Board, "have sanctioned the construction of a line of railroad from Howrah, opposite Calcutta, to Pundooah, with a branch line into the Raneegunge Collieries. The total length will be from 120 to 130 miles; and will in the first instance be laid with a single line of rails." At the same time contracts for the construction of the first 40 miles to Pundooah 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 actually decided the question of gauge for the first railway in India. At home there had been much controversy as to whether the gauge for English lines should be 4' 8.5" or 7'. Some railways were made to one, others to the other, Lord Dalhousie laid down that, in India, the gauge should be between these two extremes. Had it been possible for Lord Dalhousie to foresee subsequent developments he would probably have selected the 4' 8.5" gauge, and if he had done so there would have been no excuse for introducing the complication of the metre gauge.
Mr. H. A. Aglionby, M.P., now became the Chairman of the Company, and during the early days of construction the reports of the Board were necessarily brief, but early in 1852, work having been started on the section between Pundooah and Raneegunge, it was decided that the main line to the North-West Provinces of India should proceed vial Rajmahal, following the course of the Ganges, that is to say, by the route which forms what is now known as the loop line.
Early in 1854, the first section of the line to Raneegunge was completed, and Mr. Aglionby, addressing the shareholders, advised them that a new contract had been entered into with the East India Company to extend the railway to Delhi. Additional capital was now raised, and it was found that confidence in the prospects of the undertaking was gradually growing. As Mr. Aglionby remarked "it was the opinion of men best acquainted with mercantile matters that few, if any, companies in England at the present moment held out higher promise or better security than their own." Referring to the assistance given by the Company's Consulting Engineer he said: "he could not talk too highly of the indefatigable exertions and untiring energy of Mr. Rendel; the advanced state of the works would speak for themselves. Not only was the line from Calcutta to Raneegunge (a distance of 121 miles) almost finished, but an extended advance was actively going on to Rajmahal, a further increase of 120 miles," and it is interesting to record what Mr. Rendel said in reply. Mr. Rendel said, that the shareholders would be glad to learn that already forty-five miles of their line had been completed from Calcutta. There were engineering difficulties to contend with in India, which people at home could not possibly conceive. Yet be was bound to say that the works executed on their Indian lines were equal to any of the kind done in this country; several large bridges had been built over nullahs and rivers near Hooghly, and on exceedingly treacherous, sinking and shifting ground. Yet no failures had happened nor had any accidents taken place, though since the planning of their railway, heavier floods had risen in Bengal than had been witnessed since the days of Clive. Before the end of the year the works would bring their rails to the Raneegunge coal fields and great profits would accrue when this was completed. On the opening of the line their rolling stock and engines would be found to equal anything of the sort in England. The Directors of the East India Company had readily met and concurred in all his suggestions and by the extraordinary exertions of their engineers, a survey to Allahabad had been taken in six months. Within four years their line would be advanced to this populous and important town, and seven years hence their railway would be running to Delhi.
From such speeches do we gain a glimpse of the work of construction in its earliest days, of the difficulties overcome and of the hopes for the future.
The first division of the experimental line from Howrah to Hooghly was opened for passenger traffic on the 15th August 1854, and a fortnight later an extension was opened to Pundooah. During the first sixteen weeks no less than 109,634 passengers were carried, and the gross earnings (including receipts for a few tons of merchandise) were £6,792 15s. 9d. or an average of £424 10s. 11 13/15d. per week, and the Board reported that "looking to the small portion of line opened, the traffic has far exceeded the most sanguine expectations; and perhaps the most gratifying feature of all is in the fact that, contrary to a general belief in the indisposition and inability of the natives to avail themselves of railway communication, by far the largest number of passengers carried has been of the third class. The following is an analysis of the traffic:— First Class, 6,511; Second Class, 21,005; Third Class, 83,118."
It was considered a most extraordinary act that the very poorest of the inhabitants had availed themselves of the Railway directly it was opened. The third class fare was then }d. per mile and there were only three classes, but the fact was proved that neither caste prejudices nor other considerations would prevent the native from making use of the new means of transport, though previous to this many, who should perhaps have been better informed, held a contrary opinion.
The line to Raneegunge was opened early in 1855, and this was held to be the termination of the first or experimental line. During the fifteen weeks after the line had been opened as far as Raneegunge, the number of passengers carried was 179,404 or an average of nearly 12,000 a week, and the earnings rose to about £900 a week.
Mr. R. W. Crawford, one of the Directors, who had been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors, on the death of Mr. Aglionby, in his address to the Shareholders in August 1855, said that he looked upon the report on the traffic they had carried as most satisfactory "not only as regarded its amount and the prospect of its increase but also in this particular, that it put an end to the gloomy anticipations of those parties in this country, whose acquaintance with India was of a rather ancient date, and who were apprehensive that the prejudices of the natives would prevent them travelling by railway. Such was not the case." Mr. Crawford added that he had been himself in India and knew that the natives were fully alive to everything that could improve their position. They were aware that time was to 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 to exercising the natural means of locomotion.
It may here be remarked that prolonged experience has shewn that no truer words were ever spoken. The native of India likes to travel as fast as he can be carried, and at the present time there is no better proof of this than the preference given to the recently-introduced third class express trains over the slow passenger trains, but it took many years to recognise this, and it was not until 1897, during the Chairmanship of General Sir Richard Strachey, that third class passengers were first admitted to the mail trains below Allahabad, and not until 1905 that express trains were first run for lower class passengers.
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