South Eastern Railway (India)

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The South Eastern Railway is one of the sixteen railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Garden Reach, Kolkata and comprises Kharagpur division. It reorganized Adra and Chakradharpur divisions and the new Ranchi division.

[edit] History

The Bengal Nagpur Railway (BNR) Company was incorporated in 1887 to take over from the Nagpur Chattisgarh Railway and to convert the line to Broad Gauge. The work was completed in 1888. The extension of the main line from Nagpur to Asansol was completed by 1891. A 161 mile long branch line (258 km) which connected Bilaspur to Umaria coal mine was built and linked to the existing line from Umaria to Katni. By the turn of the twentieth century work on the Calcutta-Bombay and Calcutta-Madras lines were completed. Through the first half of the twentieth century work on the BNR lines progressed steadily. In 1921 the Talcher coalfields were connected by a railway line starting from Nergundi. In 1931, the Raipur-Vizianagram line was set up, which connected the East Coast with the Central Province. By the end of the 1930s the BNR owned the largest narrow gauge network in the country. The BNR was nationalised in January 1943, and continued to be called by that name until 1952, when it joined the Eastern Railway. In 1955, the initial merger dissolved and South Eastern Railway came into existence.