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 |
| Successors |
Pakistan Western Railways Eastern Punjab Railway |
| 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.
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. What initially started off as military and strategic railway project, 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. 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. In 1947, much of the North Western State Railway fell in Pakistan territory domain became part of the Pakistan Western Railways, while railways in Indian territory became incorporated into the Eastern Punjab Railway.
The North Western State Railway network was formed by merging several major and minor railways together. These included:
In addition to the main line sections the following are significant:
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).
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