Pakistan Railway

          

Sir Henry Edward Frere was appointed Commissioner of Sindh after its annexation with Bombay in 1847. It was he who discovered the potential of Karachi as a seaport and conceived the idea of a

Railway line to up country. In 1855 Mr. Frere recommended to the

Government that Karachi should be made a seaport. The survey for construction of a Railway line from Karachi was started in 1858.

Initially a Railway line was proposed from Karachi City to Kotri, then steam navigation through rivers Indus/Chenab up to Multan and from there on a Railway line to Lahore and beyond.

The 13th of May, 1861 was historical day when the first Railway line was opened for public traffic between Karachi City and Kotri, a distance of 169 Kms. By 1897 the line from Keamari to Kotri was converted in double track.

Different sections of this part of Railway in the Sub-continent, which now comprise Pakistan Railways, were constructed in the last quarter of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century.

Unlike other Rail networks in the Sub-continent during British times, most sections of Pakistan Railways were constructed as strategic lines to safeguard the British Empire in the Sub-continent. It is an interesting coincidence that the present alignment of Railway line from Peshawar to Karachi closely follows Alexander's line of march through the Hindukush to the sea.

In 1885, the Sindh, Punjab and Delhi Railways were purchased by the Secretary of State for India. On 1st January,

 

1886 this line and other State Railways (the Indus Valley, the Punjab Northern, inclusive of Sindh Sagar Eastern section, and the Kandahar or Sindh-Pishin Southern section) were integrated and North Western State Railway was formed; which was later on renamed as North Western Railways (NWR).

At the time of Independence, the NWR was bifurcated with 1,847 route miles kilometers lying in India, 

and 5,048 route miles kilometers in Pakistan. In 1954 the railway line was extended to Mardan and Charsadda and in 1956 Jacobabad - Kashmore narrow-gauge section (2'-6'') was converted into broad-gauge section. Construction of Kot Adu-Kashmor line was completed in 1973, providing an alternate route from Karachi to up country, along right bank of River Indus. Meter gauge line from Hyderabad to Khokropar was converted to broadgauge in two stages. From Hyderabad to Mirpur Khas 66.07 kilometer in 1967 & Mirpur Khas to Khokropar (Zero Point) in 2006, 133 kilometer.

                     ROUTE & TRACK LENGTH

Pakistan Railways is a two-gauge system i.e., broad-gauge and metre-gauge. The gauge-wise length and track length as on 30th june, 2012 is under:-

	Route Kilometers	Track Kilometers
Broad-gauge	7479	11366
Metre-gauge	312	389
Total	7791	11755

             Organization:

Pakistan Railways is a Federal Government Department under Ministry of Railways. The Secretary for Ministry of Railways is the ex-office Chairman of the Railway Board.

Pakistan Railways comprises of three functional units. The Operations Unit, the Manufacturing & Services Unit and Development Unit, each headed by a General Manager who reports to the Secretary/

Chairman Railways for the performance of his Unit.

The Operations unit is located in the historic North Western Railway Headquarters building, an imposing landmark of colonial-era architecture of Lahore. It oversees train operations and all related functions. Three Additional General Managers, each heading a Business Unit - Infrastructure, Traffic and Mechanical in addition to various specialized head of departments assist the General Manager Operations.

The Manufacturing and Service (M&S) unit oversees the management of the Concrete Sleeper Factories, Locomotive and Carriage Factories.

The Development Unit manages all Railway owned Schools, Hospitals and Railway Academy, Walton, Information Technology Department besides, monitoring projects in execution.

Pakistan Railways comprises of seven territorial operating Divisions i.e., Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Sukkur, Karachi & Quetta, besides, Workshops Division at Moghalpura and an administrative Division at Headquarter. The territorial and Workshops Divisions are each headed by a Divisional Superintendent directly under the auspices of General Manager Operations.The Divisional Superintendents are assisted by the Divisional and Assistant Officers of their respective departments i.e. Engineering Department-Civil,

Mechanical, Electrical, Signal and Telecommunications, Medical, Transportation & Commercial, Accounts and Railway Police.