India has had operating railways for well-over 150 years: railways that have played a central and well-documented role in the making of India in the colonial and post-colonial eras. This handbook provides a reference guide for researchers interested in almost any facet of the history, colonial and post-colonial, of these railways. The secondary literature is identified and surveyed, primary sources and their locations identified, statistical and cartographic data discussed and presented, and a massive bibliography made available. This handbook is the indispensable tool for anyone seeking to understand India's railways and the roles they played in the making of modern India.

This book shows how railway technology, travel, and infrastructure became increasingly and inextricably woven into everyday life in colonial South Asia.

The ubiquitous railway as a symbol of the tensions of Indian modernity.