I managed to get a photocopy of a 1943 time-table of Bengal and Assam Railway. There used to be two separate railways earlier. There was Assam Bengal Railway (established in 1892), primarily catering to tea plantations in Assam. There was Eastern Bengal Railway (established in 1857). This operated in Bengal and Assam, on the eastern side of Hooghly. Eastern Bengal was nationalised in 1884. When Assam Bengal was nationalised in 1942, the two merged to form Bengal and Assam Railway. In all probability, this 1943 timetable was preserved because it was the first timetable of Bengal and Assam Railway. I looked at the pages that gave the “up” route from Calcutta (Sealdah) to Siliguri and the “down” route from Siliguri to Calcutta. There were some famous trains — Assam Mail and Darjeeling Mail, and ordinary ones, too. There were gauge changes and ferries and the major junction of Parbatipur is now in Dinajpur district of Bangladesh. Stated simply and briefly, River Padma was an obstruction. Hence, there was a broad gauge Calcutta to Damookdeah Ghat link, which took you to the southern bank of Padma. After that, there was a metre gauge Saraghat (northern bank) to Siliguri link. You crossed Padma by ferry.
Later, in 1912, Hardinge Bridge was built across the Padma and the entire Calcutta-Siliguri stretch became broad gauge. Pre-1947, this old Darjeeling Mail did Sealdah-Ranaghat-Banpur-Gede-Darshana-Chuadanga-Bheramara-Hardinge Bridge-Iswardi-Pabna-Santahar-Hili-Parbatipur-Nilphamari-Haldibari-Jalpaiguri-Siliguri. Gede is a border town, now in West Bengal. On the other side, in Bangladesh, there is Darshana. If one hears of reviving pre-1965 rail links between India and Bangladesh, this is the first: Sealdah-Banpur-Gede-Abdulpur-Parbatipur-Haldibari-Siliguri. But there are five more: Sealdah-Bongaon-Petrapol-Benapol-Jessore; Katihar-Radhikapur-Biral-Parbatipur-Tista-Eetaldaha-Golakganj-Fakirgram; Geetaldaha-Alipurduar; Mogalhat-Changra-bandha-Domohani; Badarpur-Kulaura. These are the six that will usually be mentioned. But there are two more, almost defunct: Radhikapur-Biral, with Radhikapur in West Bengal and Biral in Bangladesh; Mahisasana-Shahbajpur, with Mahisasana is Assam and Shahbajpur in Bangladesh. The links on the Assam side were metre gauge. Along these lines, there were trains, meaning passenger trains, not just freight. Other than the old Darjeeling Mail, from Sealdah, there were trains like East Bengal Express, East Bengal Mail and Barisal Express. Subject to the gauge issue, if there is traffic, these links can be revived, even the defunct ones.
The year 1947 disrupted matters. Let me quote from a meeting and the subsequent agreement between “the government of Pakistan and the government of India regarding resumption of rail traffic”, signed in Karachi in April 1955. Interestingly, the Pakistani delegation at the meeting was led by the minister for communications, Khan Sahib. But the Indian delegation was led by Mehr Chand Khanna, minister for rehabilitation. A word of explanation is necessary. In 1947, there was Bengal and Assam Railway. Post-1947, the broad gauge parts in India were incorporated into East Indian Railway and metre gauge parts into Assam Railway. The parts in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) became Eastern Bengal Railway (now Bangladesh Railway). “Routes over which cross traffic will be permitted to move through the Eastern Bengal Railway are: via Darsana-via Chilhati; via Darsana-via Mogalhat (goods to be trans-shipped at Santahar); via Biral-via Mogalhat; via Latu-via Darsana; via Latu-via Biral.” In addition, “as regards payments to the Eastern Bengal Railway for carrying the cross traffic, it was suggested by the Eastern Bengal Railway representatives that some special arrangements will have to be devised to effect prompt settlement. An arrangement already exists according to which the value of and freight on coal from India for Pakistan are paid in Indian currency at Calcutta out of an irrevocable credit placed with a bank at Calcutta by the Pakistan government. On the same lines the Indian Railways will place an irrevocable revolving credit with a bank at Chittagong in favour of the Eastern Bengal Railway and authorise the Eastern Bengal Railway each month to draw upon this credit for its dues.”
This quote mentions freight, but there were similar principles for passengers too. The point I am making is that in something like this, one needs to work out the messy business of charges for access to track and expenditure on track improvement, a bit like international agreements on water sharing. That was never attempted. Instead, for both passenger and freight, it was based on revenue and cost-sharing. Post 1947 dislocation, within India, there is a fascinating account of how Assam was linked through what was called the Assam Link project. Have you noticed the Karnail Singh stadium, right next to New Delhi Railway Station? It is owned by Indian Railways and used to be called Paharganj Railway Stadium. Who was Singh and why was the stadium renamed in 1978? The Railway Board was formed in 1905, but it went through a major change in 1951. Singh was from Indian Railway Service of Engineers and was also chairman, Railway Board (CRB). But there have been other CRBs after 1951 and not every CRB has had a stadium named (or renamed) after him. I think this renaming was because of the Assam Link project and I will tell you about that in the next column.
The writer is a member of the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog. The views are personal
The writer is a member of the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog. The views are personal
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