Dibru–Sadiya Railway (DSR) was one of the pioneering railway companies in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and the first railway service of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

in north-east India.

History

This metre-gauge railway was owned by ''Assam Railways and Trading Company'' (AR&TC), which was incorporated by John Berry White for transportation of

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

and public in the rapid growth of the tea industry. The first section of the line opened in 1882 from Brahmaputra River steamer ghat, Dibrugarh eastward, 15 miles. First train service had come into operation on 1 May 1882 from Dibrugarh's Mohanamukh to Jaipur. A 40 miles track between

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh () is a city in the Indian state of Assam, located 435 kms east of the state capital Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of the Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam. Dibrugarh also serves as the headquarters of the Sonowal Kach ...

and Makum was opened to traffic on 16 July 1883. The first railway junction in Assam was Makum Junction on the railway line that opened in 1884 to Dihing bridge. The railway was further extended in 1910 to reach Saikhoa giving a total line length of 86 miles (140km) including the Makum Branch. On 1 January 1942, the working was taken over by the Bengal and Assam Railway. The railway was later merged with North Eastern Railway zone in 1952.

Rolling stock

In 1936, the company owned 33 locomotives, 66 coaches and 1617 goods wagons.

Classification

It was labeled as a Class II railway according to Indian Railway Classification System of 1926.

Conversion to broad gauge

The railway network was converted to

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

in late 1990s.

References

External links

Indian rail club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibru-Sadiya Railway Metre-gauge railways in India Defunct railway companies of India Rail transport in Assam Transport in Dibrugarh History of Assam