Karachi-Kotri (Indus River) Railway

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The Karachi-Kotri (Indus River) Railway opened in 1861 linking Karachi to Kotri on the Indus River. The 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. [1]

History

  • 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.
  • 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" [2] itemise the problems of building in the tropics.'[3].
  • 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 [3]. 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 [4].

Records

An on-line search of the India Office Records (IOR) records held at the British Library relating to this railway [5] gives the following:-

  • Z/E/4/25/I53; “Indus River, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55
  • Z/E/4/25/R766; “Rivers, Indus, Railway line to be constructed from Karachi to a point on.”; 1854-55

Further Information

See Scinde Railway

References

  1. ↑ All Things Pakistan “Karachi to Kotri - The first railways in Pakistan” by Owais Mughal, Posted on September 17, 2009; Retrieved on 8 Apr 2016
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Google Books "The Archaeology of an Early Railway System: The Brecon Forest Tramroads" by Stephen Hughes, page 126; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016
  4. ↑ "Karachi to Kotri: The First Railways in Pakistan" by Owais Mughal, 2009; Retrieved 14 Jun 2016
  5. ↑ “British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue” - Search; Retrieved 8 Apr 2016
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