28 The Means of Transit in India. [Jan., 



to Poona, Sholapoor, and Kulburga, at which place it has been pro- 

 posed that a line should branch off eastward to Hyderabad, the 

 capital of the Nizam's territories, while the main line proceeds 

 across the river Kistna to Eaichore, where it forms a junction with 

 the railway from Madras. 



The distance from Bombay to Jubbulpore is 615 miles, that to 

 Eaichore, 441 ; and the operations of the company extend over a 

 length, including branches, of 1,266 miles. It has been decided to 

 construct the hne double as far as Bhasawul, in the direction of 

 Jubbulpore, and also to Lanowlie, at the top of the Bhore Ghaut 

 incline. 



The Madras Bailway Company was established in the year 1852, 

 with the view of constructing a railway from the city of Madras to 

 the western coast. Operations were commenced in June, 1853, and 

 on the 1st July, 1856, the first section, as far as Arcot, a distance 

 of 65 miles, was opened to the public. In 1858, a further contract 

 was entered into for a hne towards the north-west, to meet the 

 south-western branch of the Great Indian Peninsular Bailway, and 

 thus form a direct communication between the Presidency towns of 

 Madras and Bombay. ♦ 



The country through which the hne to the western coast passes 

 presented few obstacles to its progress, the only engineering diffi- 

 culties being to convey the hne across the several rivers which 

 traverse its path. Leaving Arcot and Yellore a short distance on 

 the left, and throwing out a branch on the right to the important 

 military station of Bangalore, it turns southward through the 

 Shevaroy hills to Salem, beyond which point it resumes a westerly 

 direction, and, passing through the cotton fields of Coimbatore, 

 finds its way by a break in the Ghauts, to the port of Beypoor on 

 the coast of Malabar. The whole of this line from Madras to Bey- 

 poor, 406 miles in length, was opened for traffic in May, 1862, and 

 on the 1st August, 1864, passengers were conveyed on the Ban- 

 galore branch, which is 86 miles long, and which attains a height 

 of 3,000 feet on the Mysore table-land. 



The north-west line, leaving the other at Arconum, 42 miles 

 from Madras, proceeds through Cuddapah and across the river 

 Pennar to Gooty near which point a branch strikes off on the 

 left to the town of Bella ry, while the main line crosses the Tonga- 

 buddra, and at Eaichore joins the main line from Bombay. This 

 portion of the railway is 338 miles in length ; and as its path is 

 crossed by twelve rivers, requiring upwards of three miles of 

 bridging, and .two ranges of hills, the works in some parts are 

 very heavy. It has already been opened to Cuddapah, a distance 

 of 119 miles, and it was expected that a further section of 32 

 miles would be ready by last Midsummer. 



The Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Bailway Company 



