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



it was therefore determined by the East India Company to guarantee, 

 for a term of ninety-nine years, a certain rate of interest (fire per 

 cent, per annum) upon the capital subscribed for their respective 

 undertakings, in addition to a free grant of all the land required 

 for their railways and subsidiary works. As a rule all the Indian 

 railroads are constructed, in the first instance, for a single line of 

 railway, the bridges, tunnels, and cuttings being made suitable for 

 a second line. The gauge in all cases is five feet six inches. 



The works on the East Indian Railway were commenced in 

 January, 1851 ; and in February, 1855, the whole line to Ranee- 

 gunge, a distance of 121 miles, was completed. In the meantime, 

 however, a general system of trunk railways for India had been 

 determined upon, and the construction of a line front Calcutta to 

 Agra and Delhi was conceded to the East Indian Railway Company. 



Starring from Howrah, on the right bank of the Hooghly, 

 opposite to Calcutta, this colossal line proceeds in a north-westerly 

 direction to Burdwan, whence a branch to Raneegunge strikes off 

 to the west through a district abounding in coal and other mineral 

 resources, while the main line runs due north to Rajmahal, thus 

 connecting Calcutta with the Ganges, and enabling traders to avoid 

 the navigation of 250 miles of one of the most dangerous portions 

 of the river. At Rajmahal the railway turns westward and follows 

 the course of the Ganges, in some places touching its right bank, 

 and in others running at a distance of seven or eight miles from it. 

 Near Monghyr the line is driven through the only tunnel in its 

 course, a length of 900 feet, through a hill of clay, slate, and hard 

 quartz rock, and thence proceeds onwards to Patna, Benares, and 

 Allahabad. Soon after leaving Patna, it is conveyed across the 

 river Soane by a magnificent bridge, consisting of twenty-seven 

 iron girders of 150 feet each, supported on brick foundations, and 

 which, it is believed, is exceeded in magnitude by only one other in 

 the world. At Allahabad the railway crosses the river Jumna by 

 another very fine bridge, which was opened for traffic on the 15th 

 August, 1865; it has fourteen spans of 205 feet each, the rails 

 being laid upon the top of the girders, and the space beneath made 

 available for an ordinary carriage road 11 feet in width. The line 

 then takes a north-westerly course through Cawnpore, into the 

 heart of the Upper Provinces, and at a point 20 miles from Agra 

 (with which it is connected by a branch) it strikes northward, past 

 Ahyghur, to Ghazeeabad, where it meets the Punjab Railway, and 

 whence a short junction hue of 12 miles unites it with the Citv of 

 Delhi. 



The whole of this great undertaking has now been finished, and 

 there is thus a continuous length of upwards of 1.000 miles opened 

 for public traffic. In addition to the above, considerable progress 

 has been made on a very important line of 225 miles, which, 



