North Western State Railway

North Western State Railway

Industry	Railways
Predecessor	Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway Indus Valley State Railway Punjab Northern State Railway Sind–Sagar Railway Sind–Pishin State Railway Kandahar State Railway
Successor	Pakistan Western Railways Eastern Punjab Railway[1]
Founded	1886
Defunct	1947
Headquarters	Karachi, Sind, British Raj
Area served	Punjab Sind Northwest Frontier Province Baluchistan
Services	Rail transport

The North Western State Railway (reporting mark NWR) was formed in January 1886 from the merger of the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway, the Indus Valley State Railway, the Punjab Northern State Railway, the eastern section of the Sind–Sagar Railway and the southern section of the Sind–Pishin State Railway and the Kandahar State Railway.^[2]

History

Fortified North Western State Railway bridge over the Indus at Attock, 1895

The military and strategic concerns for securing the border with Afghanistan were such that, Francis Langford O'Callaghan (who was posted from the state railways as engineer-in-chief) was called upon for a number of demanding railway projects, surveys and constructions in the Northwest Frontier.^[3] What initially started off as military and strategic railway projects, ended up becoming part of the North Western State Railway network upon its formation in 1886. The Bolan Pass railway was completed in 1886 and in 1887, the Khawaja Amran Railway Survey included the Khojak Tunnel and the Chaman Extension Railway.^[4] The Khojak Tunnel opened in 1891 and the railway reached Chaman near the Afghan border. By 1905, it was the longest railway under one administration and the strategic railway of the entire Northwest frontier. After the partition of India in 1947, much of the North Western State Railway falling in Pakistan's domain became a part of Pakistan Western Railways whereas the Indian rails became incorporated into the Eastern Punjab Railway.^[5]

Mergers

The North Western State Railway network was formed by merging several major and minor railways together. These included:

Major railways absorbed

• Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway
• Indus Valley State Railway
• Punjab Northern State Railway
• Sind–Sagar Railway
• Sind–Pishin State Railway
• Kandahar State Railway
• Trans–Baluchistan Railway

Minor railways absorbed

In addition to the main line sections the following are significant:

• Quetta Link Railway, a strategic line constructed by Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway in 1887
• Jammu and Kashmir Railway, opened in 1897
• Jammu–Sialkot Railway, opened in 1897
• Kasur–Lodhran Railway, opened in 1909-10 and later dismantled.
• Shorekot Road–Chichoki Railway, surveyed in 1906 and opened in 1910
• Sialkot–Narowal Railway, opened in 1915
• Shahdara Bagh–Narowal Railway, opened in 1926
• Trans–Indus Railway, opened 1913

Construction

Extensions

• Khanai–Hindubagh Railway, opened 1921 (part of the NWR Northern Frontier Narrow Gauge Zhob Valley Railway Network); construction commenced 1916.
• Khushalgarh–Kohat–Thal Railway, opened 1903 as a military railway (part of the NWR Northern Frontier Narrow Gauge Network); extended 1908.
• Mari–Attock Railway, opened 1891 (part of the NWR Northern Frontier Narrow Gauge Network).
• Mari Indus Railway, constructed in 1920's (part of the NWR Northern Frontier Narrow Gauge Network).
• Mushkaf–Bolan Railway, under-construction 1894, in service with NWR by 1898. Alternative to the Sind-Pishin State Railway route.
• Patti–Kasur Railway, in operation 1909-10; extension of NWR's Amritsar-Patti Railway.
• Sirhind–Rupar Railway, constructed by NWR and in operation before 1927.
• Wazirabad–Multan Railway, under survey in 1892 and construction in 1894, becoming part of the NWR broad gauge(BG) main line.
• Zhob Valley Railway, opened 1921 (part of the NWR Northern Frontier Narrow Gauge Network); extended from Boston to Zhob in 1929.

Lines

Amritsar–Patti Railway

The Amritsar Patti Railway was a private railway incorporated on 12 April 1905. The 27 miles (43 kilometers) broad gauge from Amritsar to Patti opened in 1906 and worked with the North Western Railway (NWR). In 1910, the line was extended to Kasur bringing the line length to 54 miles (86 kilometers).^[6]

Bahawalnagar–Fort Abbas Railway

The Bahawalnagar-Fort Abbas Railway was a Darbar line financed by the Princely Bahawalpur State. The line opened in 1928 as part of the North Western State Railway network.^[7]

Dandot Light Railway

The Dandot Light Railway, opened 1905. Short Narrow Gauge(NG) colliary Branch, worked by NWR

Jacobabad–Kashmore Railway

• Jacobabad-Kashmore Railway, opened 1911; worked by NWR; purchased by GoI,1945

Khanpur–Chachran Railway

• Khanpur-Chachran Railway, opened 1911. Owned by Bahawalpur Darbar; worked by NWR; also with Bahawalnagar-Fort Abbas Railway

Khyber Pass Railway

The Khyber Pass Railway opened in 1925 as a strategic line to Afghanistan via Khyber Pass.

Larkana–Jacobabad (Sind) Light Railway

• Larkana-Jacobabad (Sind) Light Railway, opened 1921, worked by NWR

Mandra–Bhaun Railway

• Mandra–Bhaun Railway, opened in 1915 and worked by NWR

Nowshera–Durgai Railway

• Nowshera–Durgai Railway, opened 1901, worked by NWR

Surveyed railways

• Bannu Railway Survey. Under Survey in 1909 (ref 1909 India List) by NWR on behalf of Government of India(GoI), but no evidence that it was constructed

See also

• History of rail transport in Pakistan
• Pakistan Railways
• Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway
• North Western Railway School

External links

• http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search]; Retrieved 30 May 2016
• “Grace’s Guide”; Retrieved 30 May 2016
• "National Archives from the RAIL collection” ^[8]
• North Western Railway Magazine - Monthly staff magazine. Some editorial content published in Urdu . No BL holdings. 2 copies (November 1942, December 1945) are held in the Berridge Papers, Cambridge South Asian Archive.
• Picture of the teachers and students of St. Andrew School, Pakistan Railways (then NWR) at Lahore, set up in the late 19th century panoramio.com
• Berridge, Percy Stuart Attwood. Couplings to the Khyber: the story of the North Western Railway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1969.
• Terry Case, North Western Railway. Includes a section about Hal Waters (refer photograph album above)
• "History of Northern Railway", Northern Railway.
• Quetta to Lahore by Rail 1925 All Things Pakistan, now an archived website
• "Breakup of the North Western Railway and the Anglo-Indian community" by Kenneth Hugh Staynor. indiaofthepast.org
• Images of British Steam Locomotives used by North Western Railways Ghilzai:panoramio.com (part of this collection)
• An old photograph of a Railway Inspection trolley with removeable sailboard used on NWR Hyderabad-Kotri, Sindh, Pakistan. Ghilzai:panoramio.com (part of this collection)
• Photograph of Troops travelling by train taken by Private J W Linley of the 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment compiled whilst serving in India 1923-1938. flickr.com/photos/northampton_museum
• Some railway personnel in 1898. Page 179 Quarterly Civil List for the Punjab: Corrected up to 1st October 1898 Archive.org

References

1. ↑ Directory of Railway Officials & Yearbook. Tothill Press. 1954. p. 114. It comprises the whole of the former North-Western system of British India except the lines in the south-eastern Punjab, now the Eastern Punjab Railway of India. 
2. ↑ " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 106; Retrieved 20 Dec 2015
3. ↑ Institution of Civil Engineers "Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland - O'Callaghan, Francis Langford "; Retrieved on 9 Jul 2016
4. ↑ "The Imperial Gazetteer of India" v. 21, p. 14.; Retrieved on 13 Jul 2016
5. ↑ Reed, Sir Stanley (1949). The Times of India Directory and Year Book. Times of India Press. Retrieved 26 November 2016. On that day the Indian portion of tile North-Western was constituted into Eastern Punjab Railway, and the parts of the Bengal- Assam in the province of Assam were formed Into Assam Railway. 
6. ↑ " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 110; Retrieved 16 Feb 2016
7. ↑ Wikipedia "Abandoned and dismantled railway lines in Pakistan"; Retrieved 29 Jan 2016
8. ↑ “National Archives” ”; Retrieved 30 May 2016

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