Ajodhya (Ayodhya): The first railway lines part 1

The year was 1868. The Oudh & Rohilkand Railway (O&RR) company had built only one railway line by then. The section was between Lucknow and the left bank of the Ganges ( Ganga) at Kanpur.

There were plans to extend the network all over United Provinces ( as Uttar Pradesh was known then). The construction of these lines were done to connect several towns such as Lucknow, Cawnpore (Kanpur), etc., with Delhi, Calcutta, (Kolkata), and the North West Frontier ( now in Pakistan).

Prominent lines built included the following: Benares ( Varanasi) – Lucknow loop, Allahabad ( now Prayagraj)- Fyzabad ( later Faizabad now known as Ayodhya Cantt) branch line and the Moghalsarai-Lucknow-Saharanpur main line ( Mughalsarai is now named Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn. or DDU).

After the 38.24 miles long Akbarpur-Fyzabad  section of the Benares-Lucknow loop was opened for traffic on June 10,1873, Ajodhya (as Ayodhya was then called) came into India’s railway map.

The progress of construction of the Benares Lucknow loop is shown in the table below:

Name of Railway CompanyName of railway lineOrigin-DestinationSectionDistance in milesDate of Opening
Oudh & Rohilkand Railway ( O&RR)Benares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowBenares Cantt- Shahganj via Zafarabad, Jaunpur56.03January 5,1874
O&RRBenares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowShahganj-Bilwai7May 1,1874
O&RRBenares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowBilwai -Malipur9April 18,1874
O&RRBenares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowMalipur-Akbarpur12March 2,1874
O&RRBenares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowAkbarpur-Fyzabad38.24June 10,1873
O&RRBenares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowFyzabad-Barabanki61.97November 25, 1872
O&RRBenares Lucknow loopBenares- LucknowBarabanki-Lucknow Block hut14.43April 1,1872
O&RRAkbarpur Tanda branchAkbarpur- TandaAkbarpur to Tanda10.72October 28,1912
Note- Oudh & Rohilkand Railway Company was merged with East Indian Railway Company On July 1,1925     

Major bridges on the line included two on the river Gomti. The first one was just after Lucknow on the Lucknow -Barabanki section and the second was between Zafarabad and Jaunpur on the Benares-Shahganj section.

EIR system map 1937 including the merged O&RR lines

O&RR started line construction from the Lucknow end first connecting the Lucknow Block Hut-Barabanki section  and then the Fyzabad- Barabanki section in 1872. The line was finally completed up to Benares Cantt with on May 1,1874 .

Picture courtesy : Raj Bhavsar

Dufferin Bridge

The biggest boost to this line came on October 1,1887 when the Dufferin Bridge over the Ganga at Varanasi was constructed.  This was the lone major bridge on the Moghalsarai – Lucknow -Saharanpur main line via the Rae Bareli line. Trains towards Ajodhya took this line until Benares before joining the Benares-Lucknow loop.

The EIR ORR boundary plaque now located inside Flash Butt Welding Plant Engineering Plant Deport DDU

With this the O&RR line connected the East Indian Railway ( EIR) main line at Moghalserai (now called DDU). This enabled O&RR’s connection to Calcutta, Delhi and Patna via the EIR.

Picture Courtesy : Raj Bhavsar

The Dufferin bridge was a part of the Moghalserai- Lucknow – Saharanpur main line via Benares, Partabgarh ( now Pratapgarh), Raebareli, Lucknow, Bareilly and Moradabad. Prior to construction of this bridge passengers alighted on the right bank of the Ganga crossed the river by a ferry before taking another train towards Benares.

Picture Courtesy: Late Sachin Buddhisagar

The bridge was renamed as Malviya bridge after it was re-girdered to accommodate the second line and opened as a double line bridge on December 5,1947. The following are the line opening dates of the Moghalsarai- Lucknow main line:-

Name of Railway CompanyName of railway lineOrigin-DestinationSectionDistance in milesDate of Opening
Oudh & Rohilkand Railway ( O&RR)Moghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurMoghalsaral-mile 3.983.98December 22, 1862
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurMile 3.98  to Kashi (Benares Ganges) station4.25October 1,1887
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurKashi (Benares Ganges) station to Benares Cantonment2.82June 18,1883
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurBenares Cant -Raebareli via Janghai, Partabgarh138.78April 4,1898
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurRaebareli-Lucknow48.68October 15, 1893
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurLucknow-Sandila30.24February 1,1872
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurSandila-Hardoi33July 15,1872
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurHardoi-Shahjahanpur39March 1, 1873
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurShahjahanpur-Pitambarpur32September 8,1873
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurPitambarpur-Bareilly13November 1,1874
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurBareilly to Mile 5 #5December 12,1873
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurMile 5 to Aonla11November 1,1873
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurAonla to Chandausi27June 10,1873
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurChandausi to Moradabad27.22October 28,1872
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurBareilly-Moradabad chord line via Rampur*56.07June 8,1894
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurMoradabad- Nagina47.25October 8,1884
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurNagina-Najibabbad13.74April 1, 1885
O&RRMoghalsarai -Saharanpur main line via Raebareli LucknowMoghalsarai-SaharanpurNajibabad-Saharanpur56.28January 1,1886
O&RRBranches on Bareilly Moradabad loopRaja-ka-Sahaspur – Sambal Hatim SaraiRaja-ka-Sahaspur – Sambal Hatim Sarai14.64June 25,1912
O&RRBranches on Bareilly Moradabad loopGajroula-Chandpur SiauGajroula-Chandpur Siau21.88June 7,1911
O&RRBranches on Bareilly Moradabad loopChandausi -Rajghat NaroraChandausi -Rajghat Narora30.48October 28, 1872
O&RRBranches on Bareilly Moradabad loopRajghat Narora – AligarhRajghat Narora – Aligarh30.12February 1, 1872
*Trains were diverted via the chord line between Bareilly and Moradabad post its construction. Of this, 0.49 miles over Ramganga bridge (Moradabad) is of mixed gauge (5′ 6″ and 3’3 3/4″)     
# For 1.17 miles over Ramganga bridge (Bareilly) are of mixed gauge ( 5’6″ and 3’3 3/4″)     

The British Government acquired the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway Company effective January 1, 1889. Thirty-six years later, on July 1,1925, this company was merged with the East Indian Railway Company.

Neglect of the Benares-Lucknow loop

 For decades post independence, this line between Benares-Lucknow via Ayodhya was neglected. It remained a single line diesel section with semaphore signalling till the year 2000.

The line was fully electrified recently prior to the introduction of Vande Bharat express between Gorakhpur and Lucknow. Doubling works between Barabanki – Zafarabad are being done on a war footing with several patches in the section already doubled.

Very soon the line is likely to be fully doubled and electrified.

End of Part 1

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