Logo of North Western Railway (1905-1947)
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| Overview | |
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| Locale | Punjab Province Sind Province North-West Frontier Province Baluchistan, Karachi, British Raj |
| Dates of operation | 1886–1905 |
| Predecessor | Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway Indus Valley State Railway Punjab Northern State Railway Sind–Sagar Railway Sind–Pishin State Railway Kandahar State Railway |
| Successor | North Western Railway (1905-1947) Pakistan Western Railway (1947-1971) Pakistan Railways (1971-Present) Eastern Punjab Railway[1] |
The North Western State Railway (NWSR) 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]
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 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.[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. The North Western State Railway was renamed as North Western Railway in 1905.[5] In 1947, much of the North Western Railway fell in Pakistan territory domain and became part of the Pakistan Western Railways, while railways in Indian territory became incorporated into the Eastern Punjab Railway.[6]
The North Western State Railway network was formed by merging several major and minor railways together. These included:
The North Western State Railway undertook a major railway expansion program, which included:
In 1899 the North Western State Railway owned 602 steam locomotives, 2,121 coaches and 10,312 goods wagons.[8] In 1906 a steam motor coach from Vulcan Foundry was purchased.[9] By 1936, the rolling stock had increased to 1332 locomotives, 18 railcars, 1,494 coaches and more than 30,000 freight wagons.[10]
It was labeled as a Class I railway according to Indian Railway Classification System of 1926.[11][12]
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.
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.
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