30 The Means of Transit in India. [Jan.. 



which place it is conveyed over the Sutlej. Continuing its course 

 through. Loodiana, Sirhind, and Uinballa, it crosses the Jumna 

 shortly before reaching Seharunpore, where it turns southward, 

 and passing through Mozuffernugger and Meerut, arrives at 

 Ghazeeabad, whence the trains will run into Delhi over the branch 

 constructed by the East Indian Railway Company. The length 

 of the whole line is 320 miles ; the contractors commenced work 

 in 1864 : and although no portion has yet been opened, it was 

 anticipated that the section between Ghazeeabad and Meerut would 

 have been ready for traffic by the end of last year. 



In 1857, the Eastern Bengal Railway Company was formed 

 for the purpose of affording railway accommodation to the thickly 

 populated districts lying north and east of Calcutta, which are 

 richly cultivated with indigo, sugar, oilseeds, rice, and other grain. 

 Starting from the Calcutta side of the Hooghly, it proceeds up the 

 right bank of the Matabanga to Kooshtee on the Ganges opposite 

 Pubna, thus enabling merchants to send their goods direct to or 

 from Calcutta without undergoing the delay and danger of the 

 navigation of the Soonderbuns. The works were commenced in 

 April, 1859, and the line was opened through its entire length of 

 11-1 miles in Xovember, 1862. Arrangements have been made for 

 conveying passengers and goods by steamboats from Kooshtee to 

 Dacca, and also to Assam. In August, 1865, it was determined to 

 extend the line a distance of 45 miles to Goalundo, at the con- 

 fluence of the Brahmapootra and the Ganges, with the view of 

 intercepting the traffic from the countries on the north-east : and 

 the railway company have agreed to construct it as a part of their 

 ori<nnal undertaking:. 



The necessity for increased accommodation for ships trading to 

 Calcutta, and the dangers of navigating the Hooghly led to the 

 formation, in 1857, of the Calcutta and South-eastern Railway 

 Company, with the object of constructing a short line of 29 

 miles from Calcutta, in a south-easterly direction, to the harbour 

 and town which it was contemplated to establish on the Mutlah 

 estuary. The whole railway was opened for traffic in March, 1862, 

 with the exception of the bridge over the Piallee, which was not 

 finished till a later date ; but it was not until the beginning of 

 1865 that a company was formed to build the necessary jetties and 

 wharves required to make Canning Town a trading port. 



The Great Southern of India Piailway Company was constituted 

 in 1857, its object being to construct railways in the southern pro- 

 vinces of India. The fine at first sanctioned runs due west from 

 Negapatam on the east coast, by Tanjore to Trichinopoly, through a 

 country extensively cultivated with rice and cotton. . Operations 

 were commenced in May, 1859, and the whole line of 79 miles was 

 thrown open for traffic in March, 1862. An extension of 87 miles 



