West : On 16th April, 1853 the first railway on Indian sub-continent ran over a stretch of 21 miles from Bombay to Thane . The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and with the Thal and Bhore Ghats incline first occurred to Mr. George Clark, the Chief Engineer of the Bombay Government, during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.The first Indian train steamed off from Bombay(Bori Bunder) to Thane  on 16th. April 1853, at 3:30 P.M. "amidst the loud applause of a vast multitude and to the salute of 21 guns." The train consisting of 14 carriages was hauled by three locomotives named Sultan, Sindh and Sahib with 400 VVIPs The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when 14 railway carriages carrying about 400 guests left Bori Bunder at 3.35 PM. This was the official "First Run" of train in Indian Railways. But unofficially it was about one and a half year ago on 22nd December that a  steam train was seen hauling in Roorkee. Read the story here.

     In the East : 

       The Survey from Calcutta to Delhi was carried out by Mr. Stephenson during 1845-46. The construction of railway line from Howrah to Raniganj was sanctioned only after 3 years. But by the end of 1853,  61 kms. of line was ready up to Pandooah. Two historical incidents denied  EIR , the first position in history of railways in India.. The Locomotive Engine and the carriages for both the  trains of Bombay and Howrah were despatched from England almost at the same time, but the ship carrying the loco for E.I.R. (HMS Goodwin) was misdirected to Australia and the other carrying the carriages for Howrah  sank  at Sandheads. Otherwise Howrah would have had the legacy of running the first train in India. The Locomotive Engine and the carriages for both the  trains of Bombay and Howrah were despatched from England almost at the same time, but the ship carrying the loco for E.I.R. (HMS Goodwin) was misdirected to Australia and carriages for Howrah  sank  at the Sandheads.  The other problem faced was that the line was aligned through Chandernagore (Chandannagar) which was a French territory at that time. The settlement of this dispute with French rulers of Chandernagore also took considerable time. The Locomotive reached Calcutta via Australia and a trial run was made on 28th. June 1854. The coaches for the first train was however manufactured by two Calcutta based companies Steward & Company and Seton & Company. Otherwise Howrah would have had the legacy of running the first train in India.  

           The first passenger train steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hooghly, (click) a distance of 24 miles, on 15th August, 1854. Thus the first section of the East Indian Railway was opened to public traffic, inaugurating the beginning of railway transport on the Eastern side of the sub-continent.  

          From 15^th August 1854, the company ran regular services, morning and evening, between Howrah and Hugli with stops at Bally, Srerampore and Chandannagar. The fare ranged from Rs.3 by first class to 7 annas by third class. The main booking office was on the Calcutta bank, at the Armenian Ghat, and the fare covered the ferry to the station. At the Howrah end, the station consisted of a tin shed and a single line flanked by narrow platforms, somewhat to the south of the present station building constructed between 1901 and 1906.

       In the South Madras Railway company is mooted in 1845 The Madras Guaranteed Railway Company was formed in 1852. Madras Railway's trunk route. The first line was opened on Ist July, 1856 by the Madras Railway Company. It ran between Veyasarpandy and Walajah Road (Arcot), a distance of 63 miles. In 1868 Madras Railway extends its network (with a new terminus at Royapuram) to Salem,

Another interesting piece of history : The Indian Tramway Co. is formed for building short lines around Madras, also with a 20-year subsidy. In 1866 Arakkonam-Conjeevaram 3' 6" line was built by the Indian Tramways Co. This suffered losses later, was reorganized to become the Carnatic Railway and finally was taken over by the South Indian Railway.

      In the North
Sind (later Sind, Punjab and Delhi) Railway is formed(1856). A length of 119 miles of line was laid from Allahabad to Kanpur on 3rd March 1859. The first section from Hathras Road to Mathura Cantonment was opened to traffic on 19th October, 1875.
 Sind and Punjab Railway is engaged in construction of a northward line from Karachi, a Lahore-Multan line, and a Lahore-Delhi line.May 13:,1861 Karachi-Kotri section of the Scinde Rly. opens to public traffic, the first section in the region that would later become Pakistan. November:1868 Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway's line towards Amritsar from Delhi (Ghaziabad) is open for traffic up to Ambala. Amritsar-Attari section completed on the route to Lahore. Sind and Punjab Railway's Multan-Lahore-Amritsar line is completed. Works begins on line from Delhi to Amritsar.October: Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway completes Amritsar-Saharanpur-Ghaziabad line, linking Punjab Railway with the EIR and providing connectivity between Multan and Delhi. 
Mughalsarai - Lahore main line is also completed in 1870  

By 1871 i.e 18 years after inauguration the construction of railway lines in India , the main companies were holding as under:

EIR --- 1350 miles
GIPR -- 875
Madras Railway -- 680
Sind and Punjab -- 400
Bombay Baroda Central Iindian -- 300
Eastern Bengal -- 115
Great Southern -- 170

By eighth decade of 19th. century  9,000 miles of railways were built in india of which 2,175 miles are state-owned. Inspite of Govt. policy to stop private entrepreneurs building railway without co-ordination with the state or other developers th  Famine Commission suggests creating another 5,000 miles of railways, and private construction of railways is resumed

         The first locomotive built in India : The F-734 built in 1895 by the Ajmer workshop of the Rajputana Malwa Railway. Earlier some locomotives were assembled using spares supplied with fully assembled locomotives which were imported. This locomotive with outside connecting and side rods was used on Rajputana Malwa & Bombay Baroda & Central India Railway systems.

          These were the small beginnings which is due course developed into a network of railway lines all over the country. By 1880 the Indian Railway system had a route mileage of about 9000 miles.
( Source : Old Eastern Railway Magazines of 1953)

Here are some of the many commemorative postage issued in India for different occasions of Indian Railways.

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