The Punjab Northern State Railway , opened in 1876, was a railway line between

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

History

Triumphal Arch on the Alexandra Railway Bridge at Wuzeerabad ILN 1876

The route of what became the Punjab Northern State Railway, was first surveyed in 1857. Years of political and military debate followed as described under the "Lahore & Peshawar Railway". The Punjab Northern State Railway was created in 1870-71 to construct and operate the railway between

and

. The first section of the line was opened in 1876 from

and in 1883 the

Attock Bridge Attock Bridge ( ur, ) is situated between Attock Khurd and Khairabad Kund on Indus river in Pakistan. It is commonly known as "Old Attock Bridge". This bridge is one of the most important strategic and commercial crossing on the Indus River be ...

over the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

was completed. Francis Joseph Edward Spring was deployed from the Imperial Civil Service's engineering section in 1873 as consulting engineer for the survey of the PNSR and the construction of various parts of that railway and bridges. He remained attached to the PNSR until 1878. Several major bridges required construction to complete the PNSR line between from

and

: * Jhelum Bridge, over the

Jhelum River The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Pakistani-administered territory of Kashmir, and then ...

Jhelum Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

. Construction began in 1871 by William St. John Galwey and opened in 1873. * Alexandra Bridge, over the

Chenab River The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

between

Wazirabad Wazirabad (Urdu/ pa, ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Wazirabad District. Famous for its cutlery products, it is known as the city of cutlery and is also quite famous for its foods. Wazirabad is situated on the banks of th ...

and Gujrat. Construction began in 1871 by Francis Joseph Edward Spring and opened in 1876 by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. * Ravi Bridge, over the

Ravi River The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

situated between Sadiqpura,

and

Shahdara Bagh Shahdara Bagh ( ur, ; meaning “''King’s Way Garden”'') is a historic precinct located across the Ravi River from the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan. Shahdara Bagh is the site of several Mughal era monumentally, including the Tomb of Ja ...

. Construction began in 1871 by rancis Joseph Edward Spring and completed in 1876. *

, over in Indus River. Construction began in 1880 by Francis Langford O'Callaghan and completed 1883. Along with several other railways, the Punjab Northern State Railway was merged with the

Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway The Scinde, Punjab, Delhi Railway was formed in 1870 from the incorporation of the Scinde Railway, Indus Steam Flotilla, Punjab Railway and Delhi Railway companies. This was covered by the ''Scinde Railway Company's Amalgamation Act'' of 1869 ...

in 1886 to form the

North Western State Railway The North Western State Railway (NWR) 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 and the ...

Personnel

The following from the railway branch of the public works department were deployed to the PNSR: * Henry Francis Storey: (1868–78), employed on the construction of the

Alexandra Bridge The Royal Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge, also known as the Alexandra Bridge or Interprovincial Bridge, is a steel truss cantilever bridge spanning the Ottawa River between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. In addition to carrying vehicl ...

over the

Chenab river The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...

*Henry Thomas Geoghegan: (1868), executive engineer *Robert Trefusis Mallet: (1868), executive engineer *Hugh Lewin Monk: (1870–73), assistant engineerBritish Library - "Photographs Album details for shelfmark Photo 1085/9"
Retrieved 30 May 2016 * Horace Bell: (1874), executive engineer during construction *Joseph Bonus: (1877–81), superintending engineer and engineer-in-chief for the construction from Rawalpindi-Peshawar section *James Condor: (1875), executive engineer *Thomas Gracey Col. R.E.: (1879), engineer-in-chief of the Rawalpindi-Kohat sectionGoogle Books " India List and India Office List, 1905" page 506 (pdf page 469)
Retrieved on 30 May 2016 *Frederick Lewis Dibblee: (1879–80), PNSR engineer-in-chief (Jhelum division) and later superintending engineer of Rawalpindi section *Ernest Lindsay Marryat: (1880–86), PNSR manager. *Richard Arthur Sargeaunt: (1884–87), PNSR office manager.Google Books "India List and India Office List -1905" page 607
Retrieved on 19 Aug 2016

References

{{Pakistan Railways Defunct railway companies of Pakistan

History

Personnel

See also

References