The Khojak Tunnel ( ur, , ''Khojak Sarang''), is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

in the Toba Achakzai range in the

Qilla Abdullah District Kila Abdullah District or Qilla Abdullah (Urdu and Balochi: , ps, قلعه عبدالله ولسوالی) is a district in the north west of Balochistan province of Pakistan. Kila Abdullah was separated from Pishin District and made a new distr ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

province,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

.''1998 District Census Report of Killa Abdullah'', Population Census Organisation, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, 2000. Pg 5 It is located above sea level. The tunnel was constructed in 1891 under the

Khojak Pass Khojak Pass (el. ) is a mountain pass connecting Qila Abdullah with Chaman in the province of Baluchistan, Pakistan. The road through the Toba Achakzai range connects the larger cities of Quetta, Pakistan, and Kandahar, Afghanistan. * Khojak ...

, and was featured on the old Five Rupee banknote. The tunnel is one of the longest tunnels in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

, and was the longest in Pakistan until superseded by the

Lowari Tunnel Lowari Tunnel ( ur, , ''Lowari Sarang'') is a vehicular tunnel under the Lowari Pass of the Hindu Kush mountains, between Dir and Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is operated by the National Highway Authority and carr ...

in 2018. 1891 The tunnel was constructed under the Khojak Pass and remains one of the longest tunnels in South Asia, and the longest in Pakistan. It is expected to be surpassed by the 8.6 km Lowari Tunnel, currently under construction, in 2009. It was featured on the old Rs. 5 banknote. It was constructed in 3 years and it is so straight that a mirror can be used to reflect light at one end which is visible from the other. The major railway line track laying and labour contractor was Waja Durra Khan Baloch from Karachi who originally migrated from Baho Kalat in early 1600s and got his first contract when British were working on Karachi Port. Later on he was awarded various railway contracts from Balochistan to Banglor and later Rangoon Burma. Later British awarded his son Waja Fakir Muhammad Durra Khan the status of honorary judge in Karachi city court and after his death a road named after him from badshahi road to 8 chowk Lyari.

Gallery

References

Grace's Guide to British Industrial History

Gallery

References

Further reading