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{{short description|Railways established by the Nizams of Hyderabad}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox rail
| railroad_name = Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway
| logo_filename = Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway Logo.jpg
| logo_size =
| system_map = Nizam Railway Map.jpg
| map_caption = Nizam State Railway map
| map_size =
| marks =
| image =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| locale = [[Hyderabad State]], India
| start_year = 1870 to 1883, fully owned by [[Nizam]]. Owned by [[Hyderabad State]] from 1930 to 1951.<ref name="Ind Rail Herit"/>
| end_year = 1950 (nationalised and merged with [[Indian Railways]])
| predecessor_line = Nizam State Railways (1873–1883)<ref name="Ind Rail Herit"/>
| successor_line = [[Central Railway (India)|Central Railway]](1951) [[South Central Railway]](1966)
| gauge = [[Broad-gauge railway|Broad gauge]] [[Metre-gauge railway|metre gauge]]
| old_gauge =
| electrification =
| length = {{convert|351|mi|km}} (1905) {{convert|688|mi|km}} (1943) {{convert|2351|km|mi}} (1951)<ref name="Telng Today"/>
| hq_city = [[Secunderabad Railway Station|Secunderabad]] (1870–1916) [[London]] (1883–1941)<ref name="Ind Rail Herit"/> [[Kachiguda Railway Station|Kachiguda]] (1916–1950)
| website =
}}
{{Nizam's guaranteed state railway network}}
'''Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway''' ('''NGSR''') was a [[railway company]] operating in [[British Raj|India]] from 1883 to 1950. The company began with a [[Glossary of rail transport terms#Railway line|line]] built privately by the [[Exalted Highness|HEH]], the [[Nizam]], which was owned and operated by the company under a guarantee from the [[Hyderabad State]]. [[Capital (economics)|Capital]] for the line was raised by issuing redeemable mortgage [[debenture]]s. The Nizam's [[Rail transport|railway]] was eventually [[Consolidation (business)|consolidated]] with the '''Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railway''' ('''HGVR'''). In 1951, both the NGSR and the HGVR were [[Nationalization|nationalised]] and [[Mergers and acquisitions|merged]] into [[Indian Railways]].

== History ==
=== Nizam's State Railway ===
The [[Great Indian Peninsula Railway|GIPR]] line connecting Bombay with Madras had bypassed the Nizam's territories.<ref>{{Cite web | title=-- Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 26, Atlas 1909 edition, Hyderabad -- Digital South Asia Library | url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gaz_atlas_1909/pager.html?object=46 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706153127/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gaz_atlas_1909/pager.html?object=46 | access-date=2025-08-01 | archive-date=6 July 2009 | url-status=live }}</ref> The Britishers were interested in joining the GIPR line with Hyderabad and make the Nizam incur all the expenses and pay a guaranteed interest to GIPR. On 19 May 1870 an agreement was signed by Governor General [[Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo|Lord Mayo]] with the Nizams. As per this agreement, the new company would be owned by the Nizams and be known as Nizam's State Railway. The capital to set it up would be provided by the [[Nizam]],<ref name="Nizam shocked british">{{cite news |title=He was way ahead of his time |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/328902/he-way-ahead-his-time.html |access-date=11 July 2025 |work=Deccan Herald |language=en}}</ref> but will be constructed and operated by [[British Raj|Government of India]] through British Resident at Hyderabad. Hyderabad was connected to GIPR and a new line from [[Wadi, Maharashtra|Wadi]] to [[Secunderabad]] was finalised. The construction of {{convert|192|km|mi|abbr=on}} line started on 25 March 1871 and was completed on 9 October 1874. The line was split at [[Begumpet railway station|Begumpet]] with one going to [[Secunderabad Junction railway station|Secunderabad]] and another line going to [[Hyderabad Deccan railway station|Hyderabad]]. The {{convert|140|km|mi}} line from Secunderabad to [[Warangal railway station|Warangal]] was opened on 8 April 1886. Later, starting from 1889, metre-gauge lines were laid from [[Manmad Junction railway station]] to Secunderabad, connecting Aurangabad, Jalna, Nanded and Nizamabad. Financial deterioration of NSR coupled with the need to extend the railways to [[Singareni]] to carry coal to the GIPR forced Salar Jung to seek funds in the London financial markets. Nizam State Railways was taken over by Morton, Rose & Co, a joint stock company based in London and renamed as Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway on 27 December 1883.<ref name="Telng Today"/><ref name="Ind Rail Herit">{{cite web|url=https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/Heritage/2021/PDF/6%20Nizam_s%20Hyderabad%20State%20and%20the%20Railways%20(Indian%20Railway%20Magazine,%20July,%202018)-%20Manoj%20Pande,%20AM%20(Staff),%20Railway%20Board.pdf|last=Pande|first=Manoj|publisher=Railway Board, Indian Railways|title=Nizam's Hyderabad State and Railways|access-date=2024-07-17}}</ref>

=== Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway ===
[[File:Secunderabad railway station in 1874.jpg|thumb|Secunderabad Railway Station (circa 1874)]]
[[File:Kacheguda Rly Stn West View 1922 Lala Deen Dayal.jpg|thumb|Kacheguda Railway Station (circa 1922)]]
[[File:Hyderabad Deccan.jpg|thumb|Hyderabad Deccan Railway Station (before 1905)]]
[[File:NizamStateRailwayTicket.jpeg|thumb|A copy of ticket issued by Nizam State Railways]]
Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway was formed on 27 December 1883 after the Nizam State Railways was taken over by Morton, Rose & Co. As per the agreement signed the Nizam's government had to deliver all existing railway lines free of all encumbrances to the newly formed company. The Nizams had to pay annuity for 20 years to the newly formed company. This company had ten directors out of whom only one was an Indian. The lone Indian member was Sardar Diler Jung Bahadur who was the Secretary of the Railways Department of Nizam's Government. On 1 April 1930 the NGSR was brought under the direct control of Hyderabad State with [[Akbar Hydari|Sir Akbar Hydari]] as the president. The remaining members of the board of the nationalised company were Britishers and the headquarters of H. H. Nizam's State Railways remained at London. The office was relocated to Hyderabad on 1 November 1941, as the ongoing war was making it difficult to work over such a long distance. Hyderabad was integrated with India in 1948 and on 5 November 1951 NGSR, along with GIPR and some other small railway companies were merged to form Central Railways. On 2 October 1966, [[South Central Railway zone|South Central Railway]] was carved out of Central Railway with areas of erstwhile NGSR under its jurisdiction and [[Kacheguda railway station|Kacheguda]] as its headquarters. At the time of merger, the total length of Nizam State Railway system was {{convert|2351|km|mi}} and was the largest system in any [[Princely state|princely State]] in India.<ref name="Ind Rail Herit"/><ref name="Telng Today">{{Cite news|url=https://telanganatoday.com/rewind-how-railways-arrived-in-hyderabad-state|title=Rewind: How Railways arrived in Hyderabad State|publisher=Telangana Today|date=2024-01-13|access-date=2024-07-28}}</ref>

The proposal was for an initial railway line to be built from [[Secunderabad Railway Station]] in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] to [[Wadi railway station|Wadi Junction]]. Nizam agreed to fund the construction expenses for the initial line,{{sfn|Law|pp=26-28|1914}} leaving subsequent branches to be financed through a variety of means. Construction commenced in 1870, and the Secunderabad-Wadi Line was completed in 1874. Between 1874 and 1889, this line was extended to [[Kazipet Junction railway station|Kazipet]] and then to [[Vijayawada Junction railway station|Vijayawada]].

In 1879, the [[Nizam]] '''''[[Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI]]''''' took direct control of the company, integrating it into the state bureaucracy as the state-owned Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway.<ref>{{cite web| title=HH the Nizam's Railway, Poosapally gorge| url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/h/019pho0000430s6u00036000.html| publisher=bl.uk| access-date=10 July 2020| archive-date=12 April 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412125726/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/h/019pho0000430s6u00036000.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Lynton|Rajan|pp=56-57|1987|p=}} This partial-nationalisation was reversed in 1883 when a management company was formed to gradually take over the lines, under the provision of a guarantee from the government of HEH, the Nizam of Hyderabad State.

In 1899, the [[Broad-gauge railway|broad gauge]] connection between Bezwada (Vijayawada) and [[Chennai|Madras]] (Chennai Central) opened, making rail travel between Hyderabad and Chennai possible. Railroad tracks in the state thus contained {{convert|467|mi|km}} on the broad gauge, all built before 1891, and {{convert|391|mi|km}} on the [[Metre-gauge railway|metre gauge]], which were opened between 1899 and 1901. The total capital [[expenditure]] on the [[Nizam]]'s State Railway at the end of 1904 was 4.3 [[crore]]s. In that year, the net earnings were nearly 28 [[lakh]]s, or about 6{{fraction|1|2}} percent of the [[Cost|outlay]].

In 1916, another railway terminus, [[Kachiguda Railway Station]], was built to serve as the railway's headquarters.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Umashankar |first1=JBS |title=Nizam was way ahead of his time |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/328902/he-way-ahead-his-time.html |website=Deccan Herald |access-date=10 July 2020 |language=en |date=27 April 2013}}</ref> The Nizam's railway was then divided into various, directly owned [[Shell corporation|subcorporations]]. Each had a head official appointed by the Nizam's Railway. The profits of these rail lines were distributed by the Nizam's Railway.

=== Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railway ===

The Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railway was a {{TrackGauge|1m}} gauge railway. [[John Wallace Pringle]] — who had recently completed surveying routes for the [[Uganda Railway|Uganda railway]]<ref name="Steamx">{{cite web|title=Inspecting Officers (Railways) |at=Pringle, [Sir] John Wallace |url=https://steamindex.com/people/inspoff.htm#pringle |access-date=2011-07-10 |website=steamindex.com }}</ref> — was appointed as the superintending engineer in 1896. The railway opened in 1896, with a {{convert|391|mi|km}} line from Hyderabad city to [[Manmad Junction railway station|Manmad Junction]]. The railway eventually grew to {{convert|467|mi|km}} of {{TrackGauge|5ft6in}} gauge track and {{convert|391|mi|km}} of {{TrackGauge|1m}} gauge track. The Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railways cost 2.6 crores, and earned 7.7 lakhs net in the same year, or nearly 3 percent. In 1901 and 1902 the earnings were about 3{{fraction|1|2}} percent.

In the early twentieth century, the [[cotton]] industry held an important place in Nizam's Hyderabad Government as the largest export of [[Hyderabad State]]. In 1889, a [[Cotton-spinning machinery|cotton spinning]] mill and a [[weaving]] mill were erected in [[Aurangabad division|Aurangabad]], employing a total of 700 people. In [[Jalna, Maharashtra|Jalna]] alone there were 9 [[cotton gin]]ning factories and five cotton presses, with two more ginning factories at Aurangabad and [[Kannad]]. In 1901, the cotton presses and ginning factories employed a total of 1,016 people. The area of cultivated land under cotton in 1914 was three million [[acre]]s (12,000 km2), with most of the cotton being grown in the [[Marathwada]] districts, where the soil was particularly well suited to it.<ref name="hydgodavari">{{cite web |title=Hyderabad Godavari Valley Railway: Buldana, Aurangabad & Parbhanai Districts, Sheet No.56 A/N.W - Unknown |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/hyderabad-godavari-valley-railway-buldana-aurangabad-parbhanai-districts-sheet-no-56-a-n-w/VgGD0xllzz7OBA |website=Google Arts & Culture |access-date=14 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

===Expansion of Cotton industry===
The opening of the Hyderabad–Godavari Railway in October 1900 led to the growth of the cotton industry in the [[Nizamabad, Telangana|Nizamabad]], [[Nanded|Nander]], [[Parbhani]] and Aurangabad Districts; the line was used to transport the heavy machinery needed to open ginning and pressing factories. [[Mumbai|Bombay]] buyers began to arrive in considerable numbers during the cotton season, which lasted from October to December. More land was turned over to growing cotton and machines replaced the traditional hand gins. [[Grain]] and [[Legume|pulses]] became more expensive, with much of the best land used for cotton farming, and [[Marathwada]] entered a critical period of its history.<ref name="hydgodavari"/>

According to a census report from the period: "The evolution from the agricultural to the manufacturing stage has already begun in Marathwada. When a country begins to produce the raw materials of manufacture in place of food crops, it has started on the road to industrialisation." There were three large spinning and weaving mills and about 90 small ginning and pressing factories in the State. In 1914 69,943 people were employed in cotton spinning, sizing, and 517,750 in weaving, cotton ginning, cleaning, and pressing. The wages paid were good, but the cost of living in Marathwara rose significantly due to the rise of the cotton industry, the uncertainty of rainfall, and availability of credit from money lenders.<ref>{{cite web |last1=J |first1=Nikhil |title=Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railway and Cotton Industry |url=https://citykatta.com/hyderabad-godavari-valley-railway/ |website=CityKatta |date=29 November 2018}}</ref>

== Railway lines ==
The following lines constituted Nizam's Railway:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irfca.org/docs/history/hyderabad.html|title='Hyderabad' by Mirza Mehdy Khan in the Provincial Series of the Imperial Gazetteer of India, Government Printing Press, Calcutta, 1909|last=Sivaramakrishnan|first=R|date=18 August 2008|website=Indian Railways Fan Club [IRFCA]|access-date=28 April 2019}}</ref>

* Bezwada Extension ({{convert|34.5|mi|km}}) opened in 1889
* Belharshah-Kazipet ({{convert|234.5|mi|km}}) opened in 1924
* Karipalli-Kothagudam ({{convert|39.5|mi|km}}) opened in 1927
* Vikarabad-parli vaijanath-parbhani ({{convert|91|mi|km}}) opened in 1930
* Purna Junction-Hingoli (miles) opened in 1912
* Secunderabad-British Frontier ({{convert|188.2|mi|km}}) opened in 1916
* Dhone Kurnool (cont. to Madras) ({{convert|58.5|mi|km}}) opened in 1909
* The [[Singareni Collieries Company|Singareni coal fields]] were served by a branch line from Dornakal Junction covering a distance of {{convert|19|mi|km}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jaganath |first1=Dr Santosh |title=The History of Nizam's Railways System |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-312-49647-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lH0ACAAAQBAJ&q=Jankampet-Bodhan%20Railway&pg=PA98 |access-date=10 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

== Rail and Road Transport Department ==

In 1932, scheduled [[Bus|bus services]] – under the auspices of the railway administration – began with over 280 miles (450 km) of routes and 27 vehicles. Within a decade, bus service investments became a total expense of 7½ million [[Hyderabadi rupee|HRs]] with nearly 500 vehicles servicing 4475 miles (7200 km) in routes. To coordinate transport policies, the Nizam's State developed a unified Rail and Road Transport Department. According to historian [[M.A. Nayeem]], the functioning of the railways, roadways and airways under a single department was unique in the world.{{Sfn|Nayeem|2002|p=221}} As a result, post-1948, Hyderabad State (later [[Andhra Pradesh]]) had a significantly superior bus network compared to the rest of India. Other Indian states such as [[Madhya Pradesh]] even bought used buses out of Andhra Pradesh. A four-lane highway has now replaced the Nizam-era road from Hyderabad through North India.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cabaltimes.com/2016/06/28/nizam/12/|title=The Secret History of Hyderabad State of the Nizam (1724-1948)|last=Subani|first=Hamad|date=28 June 2016|work=Cabal Times|access-date=28 April 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190428211628/http://www.cabaltimes.com/2016/06/28/nizam/12/|archive-date=28 April 2019|url-status=live|page=12}}</ref>

== Rolling stock ==
In 1936 the company owned 173 locomotives, 2 steam railcars, 266 coaches and 4192 goods wagons.<ref>{{cite book |title=World Survey of Foreign Railways |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxHLQGfxDa0C&pg=RA16-PA123 |year=1936 |publisher=Transportation Division, Bureau of foreign and domestic commerce, Washington D.C.|language=English |page=217}}</ref>

==Classification==
It was labeled as a Class I railway according to [[Indian Railway Classification]] System of 1926.<ref>{{cite web| title= Indian Railway Classification | url=https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Indian_Railway_Classification | access-date=10 November 2022| language=en}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

== Merger and later ==
In 1950, the NGSR and HGVR were nationalised and in 1951 became part of [[Central Railway zone|Central Railway]], a zone of [[Indian Railways]]. It was later re-zoned to [[South Central Railway zone|South Central Railway]], another zone of Indian Railways.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://telanganatoday.com/wheel-comes-full-circle|title=The wheel comes full circle…: A look back at the history of transportation in the city|last=Ifthekar|first=JS|date=26 Nov 2017|work=Telangana Today}}</ref>

All the metre-gauge lines were gradually converted to the nationwide rail standard, {{RailGauge|1676mm|lk=on}} [[broad gauge]], from 1992 to 2004.<ref name="nizam">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/01/stories/2004070104580500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050501212055/http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/01/stories/2004070104580500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 1, 2005|work=[[The Hindu]]|title=Last MG train pulls out of Nizamabad station|date=July 1, 2004}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{commons category|Nizam State Railways}}
* [[Deccan Queen (bus)]]
* [[Cyril Lloyd Jones]]
* [[Mir Osman Ali Khan]]
* [[Mir Mahbub Ali Khan]]

== References ==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* [https://www.deccanherald.com/content/328902/he-way-ahead-his-time.html The Nizam was way ahead of his times]
* {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/provincialseries00mirzuoft/|title=Hyderābād State|last1=Khān|first1=Mirza Mehdy|last2=Vredenburg|first2=E.|last3=Prain|first3=C. I. E.|publisher=Government Printing Office|year=1909|series=Imperial Gazetteer of India: Provincial Series|location=Calcutta}}
* {{Cite book|title=Modern Hyderabad (Deccan)|last=Law|first=John|publisher=Thacker, Spink, & Co.|year=1914|location=Calcutta}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Days of the Beloved|last1=Lynton|first1=Harriet Ronken|last2=Rajan|first2=Mohini|publisher=University of California Press|year=1987|isbn=0520024427|location=Berkeley}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Splendour of Hyderabad: the last phase of an oriental culture, 1591-1948 A.D.|last=Nayeem|first=M. A.|publisher=Hyderabad Publishers|year=2002|isbn=8185492204|edition=Revised|location=Hyderabad|orig-year=1987}}

{{Class I railways according to Indian Railway Classification System}}
{{South Central Railway zone}}
{{Railways in Southern India}}
{{Godavari basin}}

[[Category:Companies nationalised by the Government of India]]
[[Category:Nationalisation in India|I]]
[[Category:Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway| ]]
[[Category:Defunct railway companies of India]]
[[Category:Metre-gauge railways in India]]
[[Category:Secunderabad railway division|*]]
[[Category:South Central Railway zone]]
[[Category:Transport in Aurangabad]]
[[Category:Transport in Hyderabad, India]]
[[Category:Establishments in Hyderabad State]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1951]]
[[Category:Hyderabad State]]
[[Category:Railway companies of India]]

Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway - Revision history

Ahad Sabri: Done