page_title: East Indian Railway Company
section_title: Line openings
hierarchical_section_title: East Indian Railway Company / 1854 to 1863 / Line openings
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaque at Howrah station for first train in Eastern India on 15th August 1854
context_page_description: The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway, introduced railways to eastern and northern India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway and the North-Western Railway operated in other parts of India. The company was established 1 June 1845 in London by a deed of settlement with a capital of £4,000,000,
  largely raised in London.
context_section_description: In 1853, The first railway line between Bombay to Thane (32 km stretch) was opened.  It had 14 coaches and was driven by 3 engines.
  The 541 miles (871 kilometres) of line from Howrah to Benares were opened to:
  Hooghly (37 km or 23 miles) for passenger traffic on 15 August 1854. More than 3,000 applications were received from the people wanting a ride in the first train in eastern India. The first train ran to full capacity. The train left Howrah station at 8:30 a.m. and reached Hooghly in 91 minutes. It had three first-class and two second-class coaches. It also had three trucks for third-class passengers and a brakevan for the guard. All of these were built in India, because the ship ferrying the original coaches from England had unfortunately met with natural disaster in the high seas and consequently sunk. The locomotive however was imported, though not without its own difficulties. The ship bringing the locomotive had initially, due to a navigational error, had sailed to Australia, and had to be re-routed back to India.
  During the first 16 weeks, the company was delighted to carry 109,634 passengers: 83,118 third class, 21,005 second class and 5511 first class. The gross earnings, including the receipts of a few tons of merchandise were £6793.
  Pundooah on 1 September 1854.
  Burdwan in February 1855.
  Raniganj with its coalfields on 3 February 1855. In 1855, 617,281 passengers were carried and contracts were made to carry 100,000 tons of coal from the Raniganj colliery to Howrah.
  Adjai in October 1858.
  Rajmahal (on the River Ganges) in October 1859. The first train ran from Howrah to Rajmahal via Khana (presently known as the Sahibganj Loop) on 4 July 1860. 1,388,714 passengers were carried in 1859.
  Bhagalpur in 1861.
  The Loop from Khana Junction to Kiul via Jamalpur, including the Monghyr branch in February 1862. In the same year the line reached Mughal Sarai via the present line beyond Kiul. The sections from Luckee Sarai to Danapore and Danapore to Mughal Sarai was completed in the meantime.
  Son River. George Turnbull inspected the Son bridge and judged it complete on 4 November 1862.
  Across the River Ganges from Benares in December 1862.
  Including branch lines this totalled 601 miles (967 kilometres).
caption: Plaque at Howrah station for first train in Eastern India on 15 August 1854
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