India's First Train: Not Bombay-Thane! Uttarakhand's 1851 Goods Train Predates It

• India's first goods train ran in Uttarakhand on December 22, 1851, for the Ganga Canal project.
• It covered 10 km between Roorkee and Piran Kaliyar, transporting clay and construction materials.
• The locomotive, named Thomason or Jenny Lind, was imported from England and operated for nine months.
• This train predated the famous 1853 Bombay-Thane passenger service, marking a pioneering industrial use of railways.
• Tracks were built by Indian laborers using manual tools under British engineer Sir Proby Cautley.

Why It Matters: India's first train was a goods train in Uttarakhand in 1851, not the 1853 Bombay-Thane passenger service.