The development of passenger carriage design and passenger service on the railways of India: The end of the 19th – the fi rst half of the 20th century

Abstract

By the end of the nineteenth century, several dozen railway companies operated in India on intercity routes, including those of several thousand kilometres in length. On both wide and narrow gauge lines, various wagons were operated: from Classes IV and III with almost no amenities (often even without the simplest benches for sitting) and up to luxury Class I coaches and saloon coaches. Almost until the beginning of the twentieth century, when organizing passenger transportation, railway companies focused on a relatively small circle of European colonizers — civil servants, British military and wealthy entrepreneurs, including Indians, and, to a lesser extent, on middle–income Indians, while virtually ignoring the interests of the poorest population groups, which made up the vast majority of Indian society. Based on the above, a fleet of passenger carriages of wide, metre and narrow gauge lines was also formed, while, of course, all technical innovations and improvements related to improving travel comfort were initially introduced in saloon coaches, first-class carriages and, decades later, often in second-class, and then third- and fourth-class carriages. This situation remained almost until India gained independence in 1947. Real improvement began in the 1960s with the renewal of the country’s passenger coach fleet and an increase in the overall level of passenger service, including the second and third classes.