Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway

The Hyderabad State
Dates of operation	1870 (1879 fully owned by Nizam)–1950 (nationalized by government of India under Indian Railways)
Successor	Central Railway(1951) South Central Railway(1966)
Track gauge	Mixed
Length	351 miles (1905) 688 miles (1943)
Headquarters	Secunderabad Station (1870-1916) Kachiguda Station(1916-1950)

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway (NGSR) was a Railway Company in India between 1879 and 1950, and was owned by the Nizam's Hyderabad State. The full style of the system was His Exalted Highness, The Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway which had its beginnings in a line built privately by the Nizam, much to the dismay of the British authorities. It was owned and worked by a company under a guarantee from the Hyderabad State capital for which was raised by the issue of redeemable mortgage debentures.

Being one of the largest princely states of India, the Nizam of the Hyderabad State wanted to build a railway line to connect the Hyderabad with the rest of the British India (now India). This Railway line was to be built from Secunderabad Railway Station, Hyderabad, India. The Nizam bore all the expenses for the construction of the line.

The proposed line was to be built between Secunderabad Railway Station-Wadi initially. The earliest sections of the NGSR were commenced during the 1870s, variously financed, constructed and operated. The construction commenced in 1870. After four years of construction works, in 1874, the Secunderabad-Wadi Line was built with financing. In 1879, the Nizam took over this railway line and was managed by the state owned Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway under the Nizam. In 1883, a management company was formed to gradually take over these lines, under the provision of a guarantee from the Government of HEH the Nizam of Hyderabad State. Later in 1889,this line was extended to Vijayawada Junction as Vijayawada-Wadi line.

John Wallace Pringle was appointed as the superintending engineer for the survey and construction of the Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railway in 1896. The metre gauge railway runs for 391 miles (629 km) from Hyderabad city to Manmad on the north-eastern section of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and was opened in October 1900.

In 1899, BG connection between Bezwada (Vijayawada) and Madras (Chennai Central) opens making rail travel between Hyderabad and Chennai possible. The State thus contains 467 miles on the broad gauge, all built before 1891, and 391 miles on the metre gauge, opened between 1899 and 1901. In 1916, another railway terminus, Kachiguda Railway Station was built to serve as the railway’s headquarters. In 1950, the NGSR was nationalised and in 1951 became part of Central Railway, a zone of Indian Railways.