Khyber Railway

The Khyber Pass Railway was a line from India to Afghanistan via Khyber Pass; built as a strategic line to thwart any Afghan or Russian invasion of India.

In 1879 a reconnaissance survey was conducted with an aim to find the feasibility of laying railways through Khyber Pass. Many years pass without any action on the ground. Finally the construction started in 1905 from a place called Kacha Garhi between Peshawar and Jamrud. The track made progress westwards and 32km of track was laid by 1907.

The alliance between Russia and Afghanistan made British consider Russia no longer a threat. This stops the work on Khyber Pass Railway.

In 1909, several kilometers of permanent way and bridges were uprooted from Khyber Pass and sent to other areas of India to be used there.

Colonel Gordon Hearn was assigned to the work of surveying and recommending the best route through Khyber Pass. Previously all surveys recommended a metre gauge(MG) track. However the proposal to use broad gauge(BG) was adopted and construction restarted in 1920 with the section from Jamrud to Landi Kotal, opening on November 3, 1925.

The railway was worked by North Western Railway(NWR).

References

<ref[1] Wikipedia - Khyber Pass Railway>

<ref[2] Wikipedia - Khyber Train Safari>

<ref[3] Facebook - Railways in Indo-Pak>