{"id":87360,"date":"2022-12-05T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/blog\/?p=87360"},"modified":"2022-12-05T12:36:09","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T12:36:09","slug":"pakistan-railways-history-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/blog\/pakistan-railways-history-facts.html","title":{"rendered":"All You Need to Know About the System of Pakistan Railways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pakistan Railways History<\/a>
Pakistan Railways Infrastructure<\/a>
Railway Stations in Pakistan<\/a>
Pakistan Railways Schedule<\/a>
Pakistan Railways Website<\/a>
Pakistan Railways Ticket Price<\/a>
Trains in Pakistan<\/a>
Pakistan Railways Freight Transportation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update (Dec 5, 2022):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan Railways has recently received 46 modern coaches as completely built units (CBUs) from China. Well, this was just the first batch of the consignment. The national railway company is also ready to start manufacturing similar coaches locally. The manufacturing is planned to be carried out at its carriage factory in Islamabad. According to a $140 million contract, Chinese engineers would also be a part of this manufacturing facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contract includes 230 state-of-the-art coa\u00adches, of which 46 were already manufa\u00adctured in China and delivered to Pakis\u00adtan. However, the remaining 184 will be built by the PR team of expert engineers locally. They will be supervised by the technical staff of the Chinese company. The test run of the newly included coaches is currently underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Based on a vast network of train tracks, tunnels, junctions, and dry ports, Pakistan Railways is one of the largest and oldest railway systems in the world. It is a state-owned railway company, which caters to passenger as well as freight transportation throughout the country and connects all major cities like the network of motorways in Pakistan<\/a>. In this blog, we\u2019ll discuss all the key information regarding the system of railways in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan Railways History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It all began In 1855, during the British Raj when several railway companies started laying local rail tracks in several districts of Sindh and Punjab. So, it can be said that the country’s rail system started as a patchwork of local rail lines, constructed and operated by small-scale, private railway companies of that time, which include the Scinde Railway, Punjab Railway, Delhi Railway, and Indus Flotilla. However, most of these companies merged and formed the North Western State Railway in the year 1880. 
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However, up till 1947, the year of independence, the network of the North-Western State Railway expanded throughout Sindh and Punjab. After the independence, around 8,122 kilometres (5,047 miles) of train tracks of the North-Western State Railway came under Pakistani territories. Initially, the system of railways in Pakistan was totally based on narrow-gauge train tracks. The process of the conversion of these narrow-gauge railway tracks into broad gauge railway tracks has been carried out from time to time throughout the history of railways in Pakistan. 
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Some of the many large-scale extension projects on the country\u2019s railway system were carried out from the 1950s to the 1980s. As of now, all of the narrow-gauge railway tracks have either been dismantled or converted into broad-gauge railway tracks for a smoother flow of railways traffic in Pakistan. The history of railways in Pakistan has been preserved and put on display in the railway museums found in different cities across the country.
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Quick Fact:<\/strong> A narrow-gauge railway track is narrower and thinner than the standard track gauge, measuring at least 1,435 mm. British narrow-gauge railway ran miles and miles around the landscape of South Asia. However, these days the most significant use of the narrow gauge railway track is in the commercial industry, specifically for temporary arrangements since such types of railway tracks are cost-effective and short-lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan Railways Infrastructure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Pakistan
History of Pakistan Railways dates back to over 150 years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The network of railways in Pakistan is based on 11,881 kilometres (7,383 miles) of train tracks. However, around 80% of the tracks are a part of historical constructions as old as 80 to 90 years. As per the current statistics, the maximum speed on most of these railway lines in Pakistan is 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph). However, the upgraded sections of the railway line between Karachi and Peshawar allows speeds up to 130 kilometres per hour (81 mph). Moreover, under the banner of CPEC Projects in Pakistan<\/a>, work is in progress to upgrade most of the major lines to allow faster train speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) and decrease the rate of congestion faced by railway traffic in Pakistan. The below-given table gives you details about the main railway lines in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main Railway Line In Pakistan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Main Line 1 (ML-1)<\/strong><\/td>Karachi-Peshawar Line<\/td>1,687 kilometres<\/td><\/tr>
Main Line 2 (ML-2)<\/strong><\/td>Kotri\u2013Attock Line<\/td>1,519 kilometres<\/td><\/tr>
Main Line 3 (ML-3)<\/strong><\/td>Rohri\u2013Chaman Line<\/td>523 kilometres<\/td><\/tr>
Main Line 4 (ML-4)<\/strong><\/td>Quetta\u2013Taftan Line<\/td>523 kilometres<\/td><\/tr>
Main Line 5 (ML-5)<\/strong><\/td>Taxila\u2013Khunjerab Line<\/td>682 kilometres<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The mainline linking Peshawar and Karachi is being upgraded as a part of CPEC Projects in Pakistan. It is a six-year project carried out with a total cost of around 6.3 billion dollars. Check out our blog on the expansion of ML-1 train track in Pakistan<\/a> for more information in this regard. The Ministry of Railway in Pakistan has proposed some new rail lines to link Gwadar Port to Central Asia, for the passenger and goods transportation. The names of these railway lines have been listed as under:<\/p>\n\n\n\n