The original main line from Bhojeepura opened in 1884 and ran 54 miles in a north-westerly direction to Kathgodam. The railway was progressively extended, and by 1912 its network covered 256 miles. It also worked the 296 miles long Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway. The R&KR was company owned and worked from formation in 1882. In 1883 Alexander Izat was appointed Director. Prior to this he was employed by the Railway Branch - Public Works Department where he had served in various parts of India and was instrumental in initiating and carrying out many metre-gauge extensions. He represented R&KR at the Indian Railway Conference Association and remained as Director, until his retirement in 1904. In 1918 he is recorded as being R&KR Chairman with headquarters in London. The R&KR remained a private company until nationalisation in 1943, when it was amalgamated with the Bengal and North-Western Railway, with which it had been closely associated, and the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, to form the Oudh and Tirhut Railway. In turn, in 1952, the Oudh and Tirhut Railway became part of 'North Eastern Railway', a zone of Indian Railways. The R&KR had working agreements with both the metre gauge Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway and the narrow gaugePowayan Light Railway. The three railways used shared facilities but retained separate identities.
Ramnagar Extension Line from Moradabad to Ramnagar, 1907-8; 48 miles
Kashipur Extension Line from Lalkua to Kashipur, 1907; 36 miles
Shahjahanpur Extension Line from Pilibhit 1911; reaching Shahjahanpur 1916; 56 miles
Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway, from 1891, a metre gauge railway, which formed an alternative Northern Loop between the cities of Lucknow and Bareilly to the broad gauge main line of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway. The metre gauge network of 198 miles in 1891 was extended to 312 miles by 1914.
Philibhit-Sitapur Railway, sanctioned for survey in 1905-1906; metre gauge line from Pilibhit-Bisalpur to Shahjahanpur and then to Sitapur, a length of about 105 miles. The 'Philibhit - Shahjahanpur Section’ was constructed by R&KR as Shahjahanpur Extension Lin, opened 1911-16 - see above; the extension to Sitapur was constructed in 1916.
Dudhwa Branch Extension and Ramnager Ghat Extension, proposed in 1895 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway.
Pilibhit-Barmedo Branch, surveyed in 1903 by the Agents, the R&KR, on behalf of the Lucknow-Bareilly State Railway
Conversion to broad gauge
The railway lines were converted to broad gauge starting from 1990s to 2010s.
