Khyber Pass Railway
| Khyber Pass Railway درۂ خیبر ریلوے |
|
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Status | Suspended |
| Termini |
Peshawar City Landi Khana |
| Operation | |
| Opened | November 4, 1925 |
| Owner | Pakistan Railways |
| Operator(s) | Pakistan Railways |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 58 km (36 mi) |
| Track gauge | 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) |
The Khyber Pass Railway (Urdu: درۂ خیبر ریلوے) is one of several railway lines in Pakistan, operated and maintained by Pakistan Railways. The line begins at Peshawar City and ended at Landi Khana. The total length of this railway line is 58 kilometers (36 mi) with 13 railway stations. The route has since been suspended of passenger train traffic due to security reasons and also due to the 2006 monsoon rains, which washed several sections away.
The Great Game was responsible for the creation of the Khyber Pass Railway. The British were convinced that the Russian Empire were planning to invade the British Raj. The most obvious routes for this invasion would be through the Khyber Pass or Bolan Pass, and thus it was suggested that strategic railways be built in both of these passes. In 1879, a reconnaissance survey was conducted with an aim to find the feasibility of laying railways through the Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass (Sind–Pishin State Railway) to thwart any Russian invasion.
In 1905, the North Western State Railway began construction of the line at the village of Kacha Garhi, located between Peshawar and Jamrud. The metre gauge track made progress westwards and 32 kilometers (20 mi) of track was laid by 1907. On 31 August 1907, the Anglo-Russian Entente was signed between the United Kingdom and Russia in St. Petersburg, Russia. The agreement brought shaky British–Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries, particularly in Afghanistan. The new boundary agreement and alliance made Russia no longer a threat to the British and work stopped on the railway. In 1909, several kilometers of permanent way and bridges were uprooted from the Khyber Pass Railway and sent to other lines being constructed by the North Western State Railway. In 1920, work restarted on the Khyber Pass Railway, however this time the proposal to use broad gauge was adopted and construction. Victor Bailey was the engineer who was assigned the construction of the line. The section from Jamrud to Landi Kotal was opened on 3 November 3 1925 by the wife of the engineer. The train took passengers through rugged mountainous terrain reaching a height of 1,200 m (3,900 ft) to reach Landi Kotal and covering a total distance of 52 km (32 mi) through 34 tunnels and 92 bridges and culverts. The oil-fired steam engines, which pushed and pulled the carriages from the rear and front, were built by Vulcan Foundry and by Kitson & Co in the United Kingdom.. One of the unusual feature of this train journey was that its route passed across Peshawar Airport's main runway.) On 3 April 1926, the railway was extended to Landi Khana, just 3 kilometers from the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan. In 1932, the Landi Kotal to Landi Khana section of railway was closed down at the insistence of Afghan government. Regularly scheduled rail service continued between Peshawar and Landi Kotal until 1982, due lack of commercial value. The 2008 monsoon season rains in the Khyber Pass washed away significant sections of the railway. The track as of today is closed for all rail traffic.
...
Wikipedia