Mari Indus Railway
Mari-Indus Railway
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The line was a 2ft 6in/762mm narrow gauge(NG) connecting Mari Indus via Kalabagh to Bannu with its branch to Tank [1] [2]
- Mari Indus is on the east bank of the Indus River, it was the terminus of the ‘North Western Railway’(NWR) broad gauge ‘Daud Khel- Mari Indus Branch Line’ which opened in 1891 and originally described as the ‘Mari-Attock Railway’, a strategic line - see separate page.
- Kalabaghwas facing on the west bank of the Indus River, it was the terminus upon opening of the ‘Kalabagh-Bannu Railway’ in 1913.
- ‘Kalabagh Bridge’ opened in 1931 and carried the NG railway across the Indus from Kalabagh to Mari Indus
Development
- ‘Main Line’, upon opening in 1913 the 89 mile(142km) NG line was named the Trans Indus (Kalabagh-Bannu) Railway and formed part of the ‘NWR Northern Frontier Narrow Gauge Railways’ [3].
- ‘Tank Extension’, 46 miles(74km) from Laki Marwat via Pezu to Tank opened in 1916, as a strategic military NG line[4].
- ‘Tank-Kaur Extension’, 12 miles(19km) to Kaur opened 1922[4].
- ‘Kaur to Manzai Extension’, 11 miles(17km) to, Manzai, opened 1921[4].
This gave a total line length of 157 miles(253km)
The ‘Kalabagh Bridge’ opened in 1931 and was a combined road/NG rail bridge. At this time the line was renamed the Trans Indus (Mari Indus-Kalabagh-Bannu) Railway . It would appear the bridge section was abandoned soon after opening and the bridge used only for road traffic as the “1937 History” does not include the bridge, although the Report adopts the renamed title[4].
Further Information
See ’NWR Strategic Section Branch Line Network’
References
- ↑ International Steam "North Western Fronier Railway"; Retrieved 12 Dec 2015
- ↑ Wikipedia "Mari Indus"; Retrieved 12 Dec 2015
- ↑ “Administration Report on Railways 1918” page 129 (pdf138) ; Retrieved 17 Oct 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 US Archive .org pdf download of ‘History Of Indian Railways, constructed and in progress’, 31 March 1937 by ‘The Government of India - Railway Department’ page 174 (pdf 212) ; Retrieved 17 Oct 2020