Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company
 |
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| Industry | Railways |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1 August 1849 |
| Defunct | 5 November 1951 |
| Headquarters | Bombay, British India |
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Area served
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British India |
| Services | Rail transport |
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was a predecessor of the Central Railway, whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminus and presently the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus). The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by an act of the British Parliament. It had a share capital of 50,000 pounds. On August 17, 1849 it entered into a formal contract with the East India Company for the construction and operation of an railway line, 56 km long, to form part of a trunk line connecting Bombay with Khandesh and Berar and generally with the other presidencies of India. The Court of Directors of the East India Company appointed James John Berkeley as Chief Resident Engineer and C. B. Kar and R. W. Graham as his assistants. It was India's first passenger railway, the original 21 mile (33.8 km) section opening in 1853, between Bombay (Mumbai) and Tannah (Thane). On July 1, 1925 its management was taken over by the Government. On November 5, 1951 it was incorporated into the Central Railway.
Incorporated as a company in 1849, with its head office in London, the Great Indian Peninsula railway was initially proposed for a length of 1300 miles, to connect Bombay with the interior of the Indian peninsula and to Madras(Chennai) major port on the east coast. It was originally meant to connect the towns of Poonah (Pune), Nassuek (Nashik), Aurungabad (Aurangabad), Ahmednuggur (Ahmednagar), Sholapoor (Solapur), Nagpur, Oomrawutty (Amravati), and Hyderabad. It was meant for the purpose of increasing the export of cotton, silk, opium, sugar and spices.
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