Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway

File:Offices of the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company - Lucknow 1870s.jpg, 1870s]]

The company was founded in 1883 by the Scottish railway engineer Alexander Izat who was also the Company Director until 1904.{{cite web | url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Alexander_Izat | title=Alexander Izat - Graces Guide }}

The original main line from Bhojeepura (near Bareilly) opened in 1884 and ran {{convert|54|mi|km}} in a north-westerly direction to Kathgodam. The railway was progressively extended, and by 1912 its network covered {{convert|256|mi|km}}. It also worked the {{convert|296|mi|km}} long Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway.

The R&KR was company owned and worked from formation in 1882. In 1883 Alexander Izat was appointed Director. Prior to this he was employed by the Railway Branch - Public Works Department (PWD) where he had served in various parts of India and was instrumental in initiating and carrying out many metre-gauge extensions.[http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Alexander_Izat Grace's Guide "Alexander Izat"]; Retrieved on 18 July 2016 He represented R&KR at the Indian Railway Conference Association and remained as Director, until his retirement in 1904. In 1918 he is recorded as being R&KR Chairman with headquarters in London.

The R&KR remained a private company until nationalisation in 1943, when it was amalgamated with the Bengal and North-Western Railway (B&NWR), with which it had been closely associated, and the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, to form the Oudh and Tirhut Railway (O&TR). In turn, in 1952, the Oudh and Tirhut Railway became part of 'North Eastern Railway', a zone of Indian Railways.

The R&KR had working agreements with both the metre-gauge Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway and the narrow-gauge Powayan Light Railway. The three railways used shared facilities but retained separate identities.

• Bhojeepura-Kathgodam R&KR Mainline from Bhojeepura (near Bareilly) to Kathgodam, 1884; {{convert|54|mi|km}}[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n204/mode/1up "Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 196]; Retrieved 8 December 2016
• Kasganj Extension Line from Bareilly to Soron, 1885; to Kasganj, 1906; {{convert|63|mi|km}}
• Ramnagar Extension Line from Moradabad to Ramnagar, 1907–8; {{convert|48|mi|km}}
• Kashipur Extension Line from Lalkua to Kashipur, 1907; {{convert|36|mi|km}}
• Shahjahanpur Extension Line from Pilibhit 1911; reaching Shahjahanpur 1916; {{convert|56|mi|km}}
• Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, from 1891, a metre-gauge railway, which formed an alternative Northern Loop between the cities of Lucknow and Bareilly to the broad-gauge main line of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway. The metre-gauge network of {{convert|198|mi|km}} in 1891 was extended to {{convert|312|mi|km}} by 1914.
• Powayan Light Railway, from 17 December 1900, a {{convert|2|ft|6|in|mm|adj=on}} narrow-gauge line of {{convert|39|mi|km}} length.
• Philibhit-Sitapur Railway, sanctioned for survey in 1905–1906; metre-gauge line from Pilibhit-Bisalpur to Shahjahanpur and then to Sitapur, a length of about {{convert|105|mi|km}}. The 'Philibhit - Shahjahanpur Section’ was constructed by R&KR as Shahjahanpur Extension Lin, opened 1911-16 - see above; the extension to Sitapur was constructed in 1916.
• Dudhwa Branch Extension and Ramnager Ghat Extension, proposed in 1895 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway (LBSR).[https://archive.org/stream/RailwayProjects/Railway%20projects#page/n80/mode/1up "Histories of (Indian)Railway Projects ...up to June 1906" page 42]; Retrieved 8 December 2016
• Pilibhit-Barmedo Branch, surveyed in 1903 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway (LBSR)

In 1936, the company owned 76 locomotives, 230 coaches and 2845 goods wagons.{{cite book |title=World Survey of Foreign Railways |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxHLQGfxDa0C&pg=RA16-PA13 |year=1936 |publisher=Transportation Division, Bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, Washington D.C.|language=English |page=218}}

It was labeled as a Class I railway according to Indian Railway Classification System of 1926.{{cite web| title= Indian Railway Classification | url=https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Indian_Railway_Classification | access-date=10 November 2022| language=en}}{{cite book |title=World Survey of Foreign Railways |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxHLQGfxDa0C&pg=RA16-PA5 |year=1936 |publisher=Transportation Division, Bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, Washington D.C.|language=English |pages=210–219}}

The railway lines were converted to {{RailGauge|1676mm|lk=on}} broad gauge starting from 1990s to 2010s.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Rohilkund_and_Kumaon_Railway Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway] on FIBIS
• L/AG/46/35 "Records of the India Office relating to the Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Company; 1882-1931"[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 "British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue" - Search] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122155029/http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 |date=22 November 2015 }}; Retrieved 27 Jan 2016
• L/F/7/2382-2391 "Collection 380: Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway, date unspecified"

{{Class I railways according to Indian Railway Classification System}}

{{Railways in Northern India}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:Metre-gauge railways in India

Category:Defunct railway companies of India

Category:History of rail transport in Uttar Pradesh

Category:Railway companies established in 1882

Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1943

Category:Transport in Haldwani-Kathgodam

Category:Transport in Bareilly

Category:1882 establishments in India

Category:1943 disestablishments in India