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| Industry | Railways |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1879 |
| Defunct | 1951 |
Area served | Kingdom of Mysore andMysore State |
Mysore State Railway (MSR) was a railway company which was operated by the government of theKingdom of Mysore.[1] After India's constitution into a republic, MSR became part ofSouthern Railways of thegovernment of India on 14 April 1951.
In 1879, theMadras Railway Company constructed a railway line fromRoyapuram inMadras presidency toBangalore city. At that time, MaharajaChamaraja Wadiyar X established a separate railway organisation to carryout extension lines fromBangalore toMysore.[2] This establishment came to be known as Mysore State Railway.
The Mysore-Nanjangud track stretching for 25.51km was opened for traffic in 1891. The 60.74kmBirur-Shimoga line was opened for traffic in 1899. Another important line wasYeshvantpur toHindupur which was opened for traffic in 1892-93. In 1911-12, the Government of Mysore decided the formation of the State Railway Construction Department and it was put under the control of Sir E.A.S. Bell, the chief engineer. TheShimoga-Talaguppa section was laid in 1930. In 1951, it merged withMadras and Southern Mahratta Railway to form theSouthern Railway.
Mysore State Railway started laying the Shivamogga–Talaguppa1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) line in the year 1930 to provide access toJog Falls.[3][4] Another purpose was to transport wooden logs from the forests of theMalnad region to make woodensleepers and also to be used as a fuel in the furnaces of theMysore Iron Works atBhadravathi.[5] In 1938,Sir Mirza Ismail took the maiden journey on this line to visitSagara city.[6] The final section of the line from Sagara to Talaguppa was inaugurated on 9 November 1940.[7]
Some of the prominent people who have used this line to visit Jog Falls include MaharajaKrishnaraja Wadiyar IV, MaharajaJayachamarajendra Wadiyar,Sir M. Visvesvaraya,Lal Bahadur Shastri, andMorarji Desai.[3] Socialist leader,Ram Manohar Lohia travelled in a train on this line to participate in theKagodu Satyagraha but was arrested atSagara station.[3]
In 1990s, the train on the Shivamogga-Talaguppa line was replaced by arailcar.[5] The railcar could accommodate 52 passengers and took 3:45 hours to cover the distance of 82km, a journey which took considerably lesser time to cover by road. It was one of the few trains with conductors on board and tickets could be bought on the train itself, whereas the normal practice followed inIndian Railways, was that passengers should buy tickets before boarding a train.[8] Once the railcar reached Talaguppa, the rail car had to be reversed using aturntable, so that it could start its return journey.[9]
In 1936, the company owned 39 locomotives, 216 coaches and 754 goods wagons.[10]
It was labeled as a Class II railway according toIndian Railway Classification System of 1926.[11][12] Later, it was classified as Class I.[13]
Birur–Talguppa branch line Mysore State Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Bangalore-Shimoga line was converted to1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)broad gauge starting from late 1990s to early 2000s. Finally, the Shimoga-Talaguppa line was converted to1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)broad gauge in 2007.[14]
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