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Quetta Railway Station - Front view
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Location | 526 Zarghun Road Quetta, Balochistan 87300 |
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Owned by | Ministry of Railways | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) |
Rohri-Chaman Railway Line Quetta-Taftan Railway Line |
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Construction | ||||||||||||||||
Structure type | Standard (on ground station) | |||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||
Station code | QTA | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened | 1887 | |||||||||||||||
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Quetta railway station (Urdu: کوئٹہ اسٹیشن, Balochi: کوئٹہ اسٹیشن) is the main railway station of Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan and serves as a major station on the Rohri-Chaman Railway Line and the eastern terminus of the Quetta-Taftan Railway Line.
Quetta was always considered a strategic city during the British Raj. The station was built during construction of the strategic line constructed by the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway. Construction began in 1880 and opened to the public in 1887, which by then was part of the North Western State Railway. Quetta was always considered as an important strategic destination as Britain feared that the Russian Empire might advance from Afghanistan into Quetta, thereby threatening its rule in South Asia. In 1857, when the idea was suggested by William Andrew (Chairman of Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway) that a railway line be constructed through the Bolan Pass. On 18 September 1879 work begun on laying the railway tracks and after four months, the first 215 kilometers of line from Ruk to Sibi was completed and become operational in January 1880. Beyond Sibi, the terrain was very difficult. After immense difficulties and harsh weather conditions, the line reached Quetta in March 1887.