View source for Dehri Rohtas Light Railway

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2015}}
{{infobox rail line
| name = Dehri–Rohtas 
|image = 0-6-0T Baldwin steam locomotive No 50788 of December 1918.jpg
|image_width = 350px
|caption = {{whyte|0-6-0|T}} [[Baldwin Locomotive Works|Baldwin]] steam locomotive No 50788 of December 1918.<br /> It had 11" x 16" cylinders and 2' 7½" wheels.
|linelength = {{convert|72.6|km|mi}}
|gauge = {{Track gauge|762 mm|lk=on}}
| map = {{BS-map|inline=1|map=
{{BS||km|}}
{{BS|exKBHFa|0|[[Dehri|Dehri-on-Sone]],|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Dehri City,|eröffnet 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Badihan Shankar Puri,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Indrapuri,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Tilauthu,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Tilauthu Bazar,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Tumba,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Ramdihara,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST||Banjari,|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exBHF|40|[[Rhotas]],|opened 1911}}
{{BS|exHST|42,5|[[Rohtasgarh]],|opened 1927}}<!--Bisher ist unbekannt, ob Rohtasgarh an der Strecke von Rhotas nach Tiura Pipra Dih lag, oder ob die Strecke nach rechts oder links abzweigte-->
{{BS|exHST||Baulia Road|}}
{{BS|exHST||Mahadevpuri Bhadara|}}
{{BS|exHST||Nimahat|}}
{{BS|exHST||Nauhatta Road|}}
{{BS|exKBHFe|67|[[Tiura Pipra Dih]]<ref>[http://www.manupatrainternational.in/supremecourt/1980-2000/sc1993/1020s930315.htm In the Supreme Court of India: ''Civil Appeal Nos. 3250 with 3249 of 1983,'' Decided On: 12. March 1992, M/s. Dehri Rohtas Light Railway Company Limited vs. District Board, Bhojpur and others and District Board, Shahabad and others.]</ref>|}}
}}}}
'''Dehri Rohtas Light Railway''' ('''DRLR''') was a {{RailGauge|2ft6in|lk=on}} narrow gauge railway line between [[Dehri-on-sone|Dehri-On-Sone]] and Tiura Pipara Dih in the state of [[Bihar]], [[India]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history3.html |title = IR History: Part III (1900-1947) | publisher= IRFCA| accessdate = 19 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.manupatrainternational.in/supremecourt/1980-2000/sc1993/1020s930315.htm |title= M/s Dehri Rohtas Light Railway Company vs District Board Bhojpur & others and District Board Shahabad & others |publisher= Manupatra |accessdate= 19 June 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140407090539/http://www.manupatrainternational.in/supremecourt/1980-2000/sc1993/1020s930315.htm |archive-date= 7 April 2014 |url-status= dead |df= dmy-all }}</ref> 

== History ==
The Dehri Rohtas Light Railway started off as Dehri Rohtas Tramway Company in 1907 promoted by The Octavius Steel and Company of Calcutta. The original contract was to build a 40&nbsp;km feeder line from Rohtas to the East Indian Railway's Delhi - Calcutta trunk route at [[Dehri-on-Sone railway station|Dehri-on-Sone]]. Soon thereafter, the tramway company was incorporated as a light railway in order to acquire the assets of the then defunct Dwara - Therria Light Railway in Assam. The DRLR opened to traffic in 1911 and was booming by 1913-14 when it carried over 50,000 passengers and 90,000 tons of freight, the goods traffic mainly consisting of marble and stone. In 1927, a 2.5&nbsp;km spur was added to [[Rohtasgarh Fort]] from Rohtas. Rohtas Industries brought the line up to Tiura Pipradih by adding another 25&nbsp;km to the DRLR, most of which passed through their property.

== Operation ==
At its peak, the DRLR used to operate two daily passengers trains in each direction from Dehri-on-Sone and Tiura Pipradih, a run of 67&nbsp;km. Apart from this the railway carried marble and stone traffic to the mainline at [[Dehri on sone]].

== Locomotives ==
The DRLR operated a very mixed bag of locomotives. It started off with 0-6-2 tank locomotives, three of which arrived from the Dwara - Therria Railway after it closed in 1909. In the pre IRS years, it also used {{whyte|0-6-0}}, {{whyte|0-4-0}} ([[Sentinel Waggon Works|Sentinel]]) and {{whyte|0-6-4}} variants of tank locomotives. After the wartime increase in traffic the railway brought as many as eight new ZB class {{whyte|2-6-2}} tender locomotives, orders for which were equally split between [[Hudswell Clarke]] and [[Krauss Maffei]]. The railway also purchased several locomotives, second hand, notable among which were the A/1 class {{whyte|2-8-4|T}} locomotives built by Hudswell Clarke that arrived from the [[Pulgaon]] - [[Arvi, Wardha|Arvi]] system of [[Central Railway zone|Central Railway]] in 1959. Other unique locomotives that operated on DRLR were the several ex. [[Kalka]] - [[Simla]] Railway K class {{whyte|2-6-2|T}} engines by [[Kerr Stuart]] and {{whyte|2-6-4|T}} engines by [[Henschel]] that arrived from the [[Martin's Light Railways#Shahdara–Saharanpur Light Railway|Shahdara–Saharanpur Light Railway]].

== Closure ==
Due to the decline in the traffic and competition to road in the late 1970s, the DRLR succumbed and closed to traffic on July 16, 1984.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-history5.html |title=IR History: Part V (1970-1995) |publisher=IRFCA | accessdate = 19 June 2013 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Railway lines in Eastern India}}

[[Category:2 ft 6 in gauge railways in India]]
[[Category:Defunct railway companies of India]]
[[Category:History of rail transport in Bihar]]
[[Category:Dehri]]