page_title: Howrah–Delhi main line
section_title: The first 1 Down/2 Up Mail train
hierarchical_section_title: Howrah–Delhi main line / History / The first 1 Down/2 Up Mail train
caption_attribution_description: The first train of East Indian Railway, 1854
context_page_description: The Howrah–Delhi main line is a railway line connecting Delhi and Kolkata cutting across northern India. The 1,532 km railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the introduction of the "1 Down/2 Up Mail" train.
context_section_description: Railway transportation was introduced in India within 30 years of its maiden run in England. The Governor General Lord Dalhousie foresaw a tremendous potential for the speedy means of transport in securing British control over a vast country, not only in moving goods and people but also in the movement of the armed forces.
  The East Indian Railway Company which was formed on 1 June 1845, completed its survey for a railway line from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Delhi via Mirzapur in 1846.  The company initially became defunct on refusal of government guarantee, which was given in 1849. Thereafter, an agreement was signed between East Indian Railway Company and the East India Company, for the construction and operation of an "experimental" line between Kolkata and Rajmahal, which would later be extended to Delhi via Mirzapur. Construction began in 1851.
  Howrah station was a tin shed and to reach it from Kolkata one had to cross the Hooghly in a ferry. On 15 August 1854, the first passenger train in the eastern section was operated up to Hooghly, 39 km (24 mi) away. On 1 February 1855 the first train ran from Hooghly to Raniganj, 195 km (121 mi) from Howrah. 
  The line was extended up to Rajmahal in October 1859, crossing Ajay River on the way. From Rajmahal, construction progressed rapidly, moving westward along the banks of the Ganges, reaching Bhagalpur in 1861, Munger in February 1862, and opposite Varanasi (across the Ganges) in December 1862 and then on to Naini on the bank of the Yamuna. The work included EIR’s first tunnel at Jamalpur and first major bridge across the Son River at Arrah.
  During 1863–64, work progressed rapidly on the Allahabad–Kanpur–Tundla and Aligarh–Ghaziabad sections. The Yamuna bridge near Delhi was completed in 1864 and EIR established the Delhi terminus. On 1 August 1864, coaches were ferried across the Yamuna at Allahabad to allow the first through train to travel from Kolkata to Delhi. The Yamuna bridge at Allahabad opened on 15 August 1865 and in 1866 Kolkata and Delhi were directly linked. The 1 Down/2 Up Mail train, predecessor of the Kalka Mail, started running.
caption: First train of the East Indian Railway, 1854
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