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| The '''Karachi-Kotri (Indus River) Railway''' opened in 1861 linking [[Karachi]] to [[Kotri]] on the Indus River. The broad gauge([[Rail_gauge#Broad_Gauge|BG]]) line was constructed primarily to reduce the journey time on the final stage of long haul from Britain to [[Delhi]] and [[Calcutta]]. Once the Karachi-Kotri railway was completed the [[Indus Flotilla]] Company steamers could take cargo from [[Kotri]] instead of [[Karachi]] and it saved them approx 250km of circuitous journey through Indus River delta.
| | #Redirect [[Scinde Railway]] |
| <ref> [http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/17/karachi-to-kotri-the-story-of-first-railways-in-pakistan/ All Things Pakistan “Karachi to Kotri - The first railways in Pakistan” by Owais Mughal, Posted on September 17, 2009]; Retrieved on 8 Apr 2016</ref>
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| ==History==
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| *1855, the [[Scinde Railway]] Company was formed in London and contracted by the [[East India Company]] to build the 108 miles (173km) Karachi-Kotri Railway Line; the line opened in stages and was completed in May 1861.
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| *1858-62, [[John Brunton]], supervised the construction of the 108 miles(174km) of the [[Scinde Railway]] between [[Karachi]] and [[Kotri]] until its completion in 1862. His detailed "Description of the line and works of the Scinde Railway" <ref>[http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/imotp.1863.23344?src=recsys Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 22, January 1863, pages 451-"Description of the line and works of the Scinde Railway" by John Brunton]; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016</ref> itemise the problems of building in the tropics.'<ref name=Hughes>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=C-pzUWrCU5sC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=description+of+the+line+and+works+of+the+Scinde+Railway&source=bl&ots=DTW2uSH2hD&sig=_JCaeiJ6FfK1irALjNQRIr_RF-8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiypcPWoKfNAhUFIMAKHbSaBOYQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=description%20of%20the%20line%20and%20works%20of%20the%20Scinde%20Railway&f=false Google Books "The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads" by Stephen Hughes, page 126]; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016</ref>.
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| *1859-1961. [[William Arthur Brunton]], his son, was responsible for the erection of the thirty-two 45 foot (13.7M) spans of the '''Bahrun Valley Viaduct''' <ref name=Hughes/>. This is the longest bridge on the [[Karachi]]-[[Kotri]] section and is a viaduct across the Bahrun River. Construction on this bridge was started on 5 March 1859 and completed on 26 January 1861 <ref>[http://pakistaniat.com/2009/09/17/karachi-to-kotri-the-story-of-first-railways-in-pakistan/ "Karachi to Kotri: The First Railways in Pakistan" by Owais Mughal, 2009]; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016</ref>.
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| ==Records==
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| An on-line search of the [[India Office Records]] (IOR) records held at the [[British Library]] relating to this railway <ref>[http://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=IAMS_VU2 “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search]; Retrieved 8 Apr 2016</ref>
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| gives the following:-
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| *Z/E/4/25/I53; “Indus River, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
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| * Z/E/4/25/R766; “Rivers, Indus, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
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| ==Further Information==
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| See '''[[Scinde Railway]]'''
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| == References ==
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| <references />
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| [[Category:Railways]] | | [[Category:Railways]] |
| [[Category:Guaranteed Railways]]
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| [[Category:State Railways]]
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