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[[Image: Nushki Extension Railway.JPG |thumb|right|400px| Hubert SC Waters, civil engineer c 1918, with a group of British sappers & miners who were building the Nushki Extension Railway to Zahidan in Persia]]
(Trans-Balochistan Railway)
The '''Trans Baluchistan, Quetta-Zahidan Railway''' was constructed as part of a strategic military route between India and Persia (now Iran).
The [[North Western Railway]] (NWR) Military Section [[Quetta -Nushki Branch Line]] from [[Quetta]] to [[Nushki branch line ]] was opened on November 15, 1905<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/BombayBarodaAndCentralIndiaRailwaySystem/Bombay_Baroda_And_Central_India_Railway_System#page/n116/mode/1up Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 108 (pdf117)]; Retrieved 1 Dec 2016</ref>.
==History==The railway construction west of [[Nushki ]] towards Iran was named the '''[[Nushki Extension Railway]]'''. Work started on it in September 1916 under the charge of Mr. P.C. Young as Engineer-in-Chief . The extension of the [[Quetta-Nushki Branch Line|Quetta-Nushki Railway]] was described in July 1916 as the '''Quetta-Seistan Railway''' by the Commander-in-Chief in India , Sir Beauchamp Duff - “to extend the Quetta–Nushki railway to Seistan, on the grounds that it is a 'cogent military necessity'” <ref>IOR/L/PS/18/C152; “Quetta-Seistan Railway” a proposal, made by the Commander-in-Chief in India [Sir Beauchamp Duff], to extend the Quetta–Nushki railway to Seistan, on the grounds that it is a 'cogent military necessity' “;26 Jul 1916-4 Aug 1916</ref>. In 1917 this extension railway is also described by the Mesopotamia Administration Committee as the “proposed extension of '''Quetta-Nushki-Dalbandin railway''' <ref>IOR/L/PS/18/C179; “Mesopotamia Administration Committee. Proposed extension of Quetta-Nushki-Dalbandin railway”; 29 Jun 1917-18 Aug 1917</ref>. The 1918-19 Nushki Extension Reconnaisance Report by Maj Lewis Egerton Hopkins gives a report and the approximate estimates <ref>IOR/L/MIL/17/13/29; “Nushki Extension reconnaisance, 1918-19. Report and approximate estimates. Maj Lewis Egerton Hopkins. Lahore: North-Western Railway Press, 1919</ref>. The railway line reached the Iranian town of Duzdap (now Zahidan () <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahedan ZahedanZahidan Wikipedia “Zahidan”)])) ; Retrieved 1 Dec 2016</ref> on October 1, 1922and described as the '''Quetta-Zahidan Railway'''. The railway is also described as the “Persian Baluchistan (including the Sarhad and Persian Mekran) The Quetta-Nushki extension railway” <ref>IOR/5L/PS/18/C208; “Persian Baluchistan (including the Sarhad and Persian Mekran) The Quetta-Nushki extension railway”; 8 May 1922 Persian Baluchistan (including the Sarhad and Persian Mekran) The Quetta-Nushki extension railway”</ref>.
By the time the railway line reached Duzdap, the British had already demobilized their forces in East Persia. This demobilization happened in March 1921 and it took away the importance of the newly built railway. So much so that in 1931, the 221 km section between Nok-Kundi and Duzdap (Zahidan) was closed down and track removed to be used elsewhere.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_Pakistan#Trans-Balochistan_Railway History of rail transport in Pakistan: Trans-Balochistan Railway] Wikipedia
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20130122161047/http://pakistaniat.com/2007/07/13/the-trans-baluchistan-railway/ The Trans-Baluchistan Railway] All Things Pakistan July 13, 2007, now an archived website
*[http://doodhpattiodysseuslahori.blogspot.com.au/20102013/0401/pilgrimage-to-dalbandin.html Pilgrimage to Dalbandin] by Salman Rashid December 8, 2011 posted January 2013. The author’s father was an Assistant Engineer with [[North Western Railway]] at Dalbandin from April 1943 to December 1944===Historical books online===*[https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000000239.0x000148 ''Despatch by Lieutenant-General R. Wapshare, C.B., C.S.I. on the Organization and Working of the East Persian Line of Communications. From 1st April 1918 to 15th January 1919''] British Library India Office Records IOR/L/MIL/17/15/34 on Qatar Digital Library. Includes some general information about the railway from the beginning of the report [https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100030858181.0x00000d digital page 12] and **[https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100030858181.0x00001f "Appendix 3 – Report on the working of the Nushki Extension Railway from 1st April 1918 to 15th January 1919"], by Colonel Frederick Warner Allum, Engineer-in-Chief, Nushki Extension Railway, dated 6 February 1919. Page 19 of the report, digital page 30.**[https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100030858181.0x000020 "Appendix 4 – Note on the Field Work of the Nushki Extension (Railway) Reconnaissance, June 1918 to January 1919"], by Major Lewis Egerton Hopkins, Engineer-in-Chief, N. E. Reconnaissance, dated 6 February 1919. Page 20 of the report, digital page 31.*[http://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100026415688.0x000016 ''Persian Baluchistan (including the Sarhad and Persian Mekran) The Quetta-Nushki extension railway'']. File created 8 May 1922. British Library: India Office Records IOR/L/PS/18/C208, on Qatar Digital Library . The pages relating to the railway appear to commence digital page 15.
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== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Railways]]
[[Category:State Railways]]
[[Category:Foreign Railways]]
