History of rail transport in Pakistan
The Scinde Railway Company was established in 1855, after [[Karachi]]'s potential as a seaport was first explored in the early 1850s. [[Henry Bartle Frere]], who was appointed [[Commissioners of Sind|Commissioner of Sindh]] shortly after its fall in the [[Battle of Miani]], sought permission from [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] to begin a survey for a seaport. The Scinde Railway was established by a [[Settlement (trust)|settlement]] in March 1855, and was incorporated by Parliament in the Scinde Railway Act of July of that year. Frere began the rail survey in 1858, and a rail line from Karachi to [[Kotri]]; steam navigation up the [[Indus River|Indus]] and [[Chenab River]]s to [[Multan]], and another rail line to [[Lahore]] were proposed. Work on the railway began in April 1858, and Karachi and Kotri—a distance of —were connected by rail on 13 May 1861. The Punjab Railway was established shortly after the July 1855 passage of the Scinde Railway Act. As the Karachi-to-Kotri line was being constructed and the [[Indus Steam Flotilla]] was being set up to transport passengers to [[Multan]], the Punjab Railway was laid from [[Multan]] to [[Lahore]] and onward to [[Amritsar]]. The line opened in 1861, connecting Karachi and Lahore. The Indus Steam Flotilla was a freight and passenger [[steamship]] company which operated initially between Karachi and Multan and later between [[Kotri]] and Multan after the completion of the [[Karachi-Peshawar Railway Line|Karachi-Kotri Railway Line]] between 1858 and 1870. The Indus Steam Flotilla provided "the navigation of the Indus, &c, by means of steam vessels [sic], between Kotri and Multan, to be worked in connection with the railways." It plied the Indus and Chenab Rivers from [[Karachi Port]] in the south to [[Makhad]] in the north via [[Jhirk]] and [[Mithankot]]. The journey between Karachi and Multan alone took up to 40 days. The company had its headquarters in Kotri, and its promoters negotiated the same guaranteed rate of return as the original guaranteed railways. It later merged with the Scinde and Punjab Railways to form the [[Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway]]. With the Scinde Railway in place, the Indus Flotilla steamers could take cargo from Kotri instead of Karachi (saving about through the Indus River delta). The railway bypassed Jhirk (Jherruk), reducing its importance. In 1856, the Scinde Railway charter was expanded to include the construction of Punjab Railway connecting Multan The Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway was formed in 1870 from the incorporation of the Indus Steam Flotilla and the Scinde, Punjab and Delhi Railways by the Scinde Railway Company's Amalgamation Act of 1869. Deepak
 The company inherited a reputation as the worst-managed of the early private companies. After its purchase in 1885, the SP&DR was merged with several other railways to form the [[North Western State Railway]] (NWR). The [[Indus Valley State Railway]] was undertaken by Scinde Railway chief resident engineer John Brunton, assisted by his son [[William Arthur Brunton]], in 1869-70. The [[Empress Bridge]], opened in 1878, carried the IVSR over the [[Sutlej River]] between [[Ferozepur]] (Firozpur, south of Lahore) and [[Kasur]]. The line reached [[Sukkur]] in 1879, and the steam ferry which transported eight wagons at a time across the Indus between [[Rohri]] and Sukkur was found to be cumbersome and time-consuming. The opening of the [[Lansdowne Bridge Rohri|Lansdowne Bridge]] in 1889 resolved the bottleneck, and Karachi Port was connected to the rail network. With other companies, the Indus Valley State Railway was merged with the [[Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway]] in 1886 to form the [[North Western State Railway]]. The [[Punjab Northern State Railway]], opened in 1876, was a line between Lahore and [[Peshawar]]. The route of what became the railway was first surveyed in 1857, followed by years of political and military debate. The Punjab Northern State Railway was created in 1870-71 to construct and operate a railway between Lahore and Peshawar. The first section of line (from Lahore to Peshawar) was opened in 1876, and in 1883 the [[Attock Bridge]] over the Indus River was completed. Francis Joseph Edward Spring was deployed from the Imperial Civil Service's engineering section in 1873 as consulting engineer for the PNSR survey and the construction of portions of the railway and bridges, and remained attached to the railway until 1878. Several major bridges were constructed to complete the PNSR line from Lahore to Peshawar. Government considered [[Russia]], who might advance from Afghanistan into Quetta, a threat to its rule in [[South Asia]]. In 1857, Scinde, Punjab and Delhi Railway chairman William Andrew suggested that rail lines to the [[Bolan Pass]] would have a strategic role in responding to a Russian threat. During the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878–80), a new urgency was felt to construct a rail line to Quetta for easier access to the frontier. Work began on the line on 18 September 1879, and the first from Ruk to [[Sibi]] was completed in January 1880. Beyond Sibi, however, the terrain was difficult. After harsh weather, the over- line finally reached Quetta in March 1887. The [[Quetta–Taftan Line#History|Trans-Balochistan Railway]] ran from [[Quetta]] to [[Taftan, Balochistan|Taftan]] and onward to the Iranian city of [[Zahidan]]. It was named the Nushki Extension Railway, since its construction began west of Nushki in 1916. The line reached Zahidan in 1922. It is long, with the last 100-kilometer section in Iran. It is little used, with one [[fortnight]]ly train between Quetta and Zahidan. The [[Kandahar State Railway]] opened in 1881 and originally ran from [[Sibi]] and onward to Rindli, with the intention of reaching [[Quetta]] and [[Kandahar]]. However, the line never reached [[Quetta]]. The railway joined with the southern section of the [[Sind–Pishin State Railway]] and, in 1886, amalgamated with other railways to form the [[North Western State Railway]] (NWR). From Sibi the line ran south-west, skirting the hills to Rindli, and originally followed the [[Bolan Pass|Bolan]] stream to its head on the plateau. Flooding led to the abandonment of this alignment, and the railway follows the Mashkaf Valley. Although the Bolan Pass rail construction enabled the NWR route to be selected, the line was later dismantled. The [[North Western State Railway]] was formed in January 1886 from the merger of the [[Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway]], the [[Indus Valley State Railway]], the [[Punjab Northern State Railway]], the eastern section of the [[Sind–Sagar Railway]], the southern section of the [[Sind–Pishin State Railway]] and the [[Kandahar State Railway]]. The NWR also absorbed several smaller railways, including the [[Rohri–Chaman Railway Line|Quetta Link Railway]] (a strategic line constructed by the Scinde, Punjaub & Delhi Railway in 1887), [[Jammu–Sialkot Line|Jammu–Sialkot Railway]] (opened in 1897), [[Kasur–Lodhran Railway]] (opened 1909-10 and later dismantled), [[Shorkot–Sheikhupura Branch Line|Shorekot Road–Chichoki Railway]] (opened 1910), [[Wazirabad–Narowal Branch Line|Sialkot–Narowal Railway]] (opened 1915), [[Shahdara Bagh-Chak Amru Branch Line|Shahdara Bagh–Narowal Railway]] (opened 1926) and the [[Daud Khel–Lakki Marwat Branch Line|Trans–Indus Railway]] (opened 1913). The military and strategic concerns for securing the border with Afghanistan were such that Francis Langford O'Callaghan, who was posted from the state railways as engineer-in-chief, was called on for a number of demanding railway projects, surveys and constructions in the [[Northwest Frontier Province|Northwest Frontier]]. What began as military and strategic railway projects became part of the North Western State Railway network at its formation in 1886. The Bolan Pass railway was completed in 1886, and the 1887 Khawaja Amran Railway Survey included the [[Khojak Tunnel]] and the Chaman Extension Railway. The [[Khojak Tunnel]] opened in 1891 and the railway reached [[Chaman]], near the Afghan border. By 1905, it was the longest railway under one administration and the strategic railway of the Northwest Frontier. In 1947, much of the North Western State Railway in Pakistan became part of [[Pakistan Western Railways]]; the Indian portion was incorporated into the [[Eastern Punjab Railway]]. After independence, North Western Railway track became the Pakistan Railway. In 1947, [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] and the Government of Pakistan invited [[Frank D'Souza]] to set up the Pakistani rail system. The railway was extended to [[Mardan]] and [[Charsada]] in 1954, and two years later the [[Jacobabad]]–[[Kashmore]] line was [[Gauge conversion|converted]] to [[broad gauge]]. In 1961, the Pakistani portion of the North Western Railway was renamed [[Pakistan Railways]]. The [[Kot Adu]]–[[Kashmore]] line, constructed between 1969 and 1973, provided an alternative route north from Karachi.
Mergers and expansion (1870–1885) ; Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway
The system was originally a patchwork of local rail lines operated by small private companies, including the Scinde, Punjab and Delhi Railways and the Indus Steam Flotilla. In 1870, the four companies were amalgamated as the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway.