The Quetta–Taftan Railway Line ( ur, ) (also referred as Main Line 4 or ML-4) is one of four main railway lines in Pakistan, operated and maintained by

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servi ...

. Inward from Pakistan's most western edge it begins at Quetta station and has services that continue beyond Koh-e-Taftan station in high mountains, west. Its length is to the Iranian border, a few kilometers further west of that station. It has 23 active stations including

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

, being an interchange, and

Taftan, Balochistan Taftan ( ur, ) ( bal, ) is a trunk road and railway town in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of Pakistan's border crossings with Iran. It is by either road or rail over from Quetta. It is northeast of the thermally active d ...

, northeast of the dark volcano peak, Taftan. Many or all main services since 1940 (and 1922 to 1931) terminate on the natural continuation in eastern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

at the high city of Zahedan, which sees a change of gauge (of track and rolling stock) for accessing the Trans-Iranian Railway.

History

Originally known as the "Trans–Baluchistan Railway", the line was built as part of a strategic military route between

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(specifically the part now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(now

). The Quetta to Nushki branch was approved by

Lord George Hamilton Lord George Francis Hamilton (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India. Background ...

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...

, in August 1902, and it was opened on 15 November 1905. The part west of Nushki towards Iran was named the Nushki Extension Railway. Work started on it in September 1916 under the charge of P.C. Young as Engineer-in-Chief and it reached the Iranian town of Duzdap (now Zahedan, a small city) on 1 October 1922. By the time the railway reached Duzdap, the British had already demobilized their forces in East Persia in March 1921 which took away the importance of the newly built part. So much so that in 1931, the 221–kilometer section between Nok Kundi and Duzdap (Zahedan) was closed and track removed to be used elsewhere.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

however, renewed interest in the Quetta-Zahedan link. British forces wanted to aid the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

forces by supplying material through Persia. Aid through Persia proved unnecessary (due to successful

Arctic convoys of World War II The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

and similar supplies) but the Quetta-Zahedan link was reopened on 20 April 1940 in Zahedan.

Stations

The stations are:

External links

The Trans-Baluchistan Railway
All Things Pakistan July 13, 2007, now an archived website

by Salman Rashid posted January 2013. The author's father was an Assistant Engineer with

North Western Railway The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur,Rajasthan with 59,075+ employees, 658+ stations and a route length of more than 5761 km across at least some parts of four ...

at Dalbandin from April 1943 to December 1944

References

Railway stations on Quetta–Taftan Railway Line Railway lines opened in 1905 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Pakistan Rail transport in Balochistan, Pakistan 1905 establishments in India {{Pakistan-rail-transport-stub

History

Stations

See also

External links

References