Cherra Companyganj State Railways (CCSR) was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

mountain railway A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a mountainous region. It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes, or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the ...

that existed in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

History

The Cherra Companyganj State Railway was conceptualized by Hubert Kench, the British Executive Engineer of Khasi and Jaintia Hills Division, as there was need to connect

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

, capital of province to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, then the capital of British India by rail. The CCSR in Meghalaya was opened to traffic on 6 June 1886. CCSR was a

tramway and the railway operated between Tharia, a mining town in

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

and Companyganj, now in

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pr ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

, for a distance of . Seven gradients were worked by rope mechanisms. It was built at a cost of eight lakhs, which was incurred by erstwhile Provincial Government of Assam. An extension of railway link up to

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate ...

and Goalundo was in plan from where railway link to

already existed but plans never materialised.

Closure

The railway continued to run between Tharia and Companyganj until the Assam earthquake of 1897 in which the tracks were completely destroyed. The tracks were not repaired after that and the railway finally closed in 1900.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherra - Companyganj State Railways 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Defunct railway companies of India Rail transport in Meghalaya Transport in Shillong Transport in Sylhet