Martin's Light Railways

Martin's Light Railways was a private company operating railways in India. The routes on which trains were run by Martin's Light Railways are as shown below:^[1]

• 2 ft  (610 mm) gauge Howrah Maidan-Amta and Howrah-Shiakhala lines (closed on January 1, 1971).
• Bakhtiarpur-Rajgir (Bukhtiarpur Bihar Light Railway) taken over by the local district board in 1950, taken over by Indian Railways (IR) and replaced by 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) (BG) in 1962.
• Barasat-Basirhat line. (Barasat Basirhat Railway) 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge. Closed 1955, partly replaced by BG in 1962 by IR.

Howrah-Amta/Shiakhala

The light railways had their origin in an agreement, dated 12 June 1889 between the District Board of Howrah and Messrs. Walsh, Lovett & Co., which was subsequently renewed with Messrs. Martin & Co., and sanctioned by Government notification in the Calcutta Gazette of March 27th, 1895.^[2] The Howrah-Amta line was opened up to Domjur in 1897, and to Amta in 1898. An extension from Bargachhia (Bargechhe) junction to Antpur was opened in 1904, and a further extension to Champadanga in 1908. This extension, however, lies almost exclusively in Hooghly district. Both the Howrah- Amta and Howrah-Shiakhala lines start from Telkalghat on the Hooghly river, and skirting the Court maidan pass through the crowded Panchanantala road to Kadamtala station. Here they separate, the Howrah-Sliiakhala line running north-west along the Benares road to the border of the district, and thence to Shiakhala in Hooghly district. The Howrah-Amta line runs west, chiefly along the side of the Jagatballabhpur road, and then goes south-west to Amta.^[2]

The new Howrah-Amta broad gauge line project, including the Bargachia-Champadanga branch line, was sanctioned in 1974-75. The first 24-km stretch of the section from Howrah to Bargachia was completed in 1984 by South Eastern Railway along with electrification, and commissioned soon after. The 6 km long Bargachhia-Munsirhat stretch was inaugurated in 2000.^[3]The Mahendralal Nagar-Amta section was opened in 2005.^[4]However, the Bargachhia-Champadanga branch line is yet to be completed. According to the reply to a parliamentary question in 2006, land to be provided free of cost by the State Government as per Memorandum of Understanding, was still to be handed over.^[5]

Bukhtiarpur Bihar Light Railway

Main article: Bukhtiarpur Bihar Light Railway

Bukhtiarpur-Bihar line (or Bakhtiarpur-Bihar line) was a narrow gauge railway line running between Bakhtiarpur and Rajgir.^[6] Bukhtiarpur-Bihar line of Martin's Light Railways was taken over by the local district board in 1950. This line was later taken over by Indian Railways in 1961 and replaced by 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) (Indian gauge) line in 1962.^[7]

Other lines

There were three other light railways operated by Martin Burn:

• Fulwah-Islampur Light Railway in Bihar
• Arrah Sasaram in Bihar
• Delhi Shahdra to Saharanpur in UP.

See also

• Kalighat Falta Railway

References

1. ^ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Non-IR Railways". IRFCA. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-nonir.html. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Howrah District (1909)". IRFCA. http://www.irfca.org/docs/history/howrah-district.html. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
3. ^ "Howrah-Amta BG line section inaugurated". The Hindu Business Line, 24 July 2000. http://www.blonnet.com/2000/07/24/stories/142460l2.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
4. ^ "Lalu remote-launches 2 S-E Rly projects". The Hindu Business Line, 1 January 2005. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/01/01/stories/2005010101151700.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
5. ^ "RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 2689 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.12.2006". http://164.100.47.5:8080/members/Website/quest.asp?qref=120859. Retrieved 2009-01-27. 
6. ^ [IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Non-IR Railways
7. ^ consultant