Amritsar–Pathankot Line
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Amritsar–Pathankot line is a railway line connecting and both in the Indian state of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
. The line is under the administrative jurisdiction of Northern Railway.


History

The -long -wide
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...
Amritsar–Pathankot line was opened in 1884. It originally belonged to the local government and was transferred to
North Western Railway The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur. It has a route length of more than across the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. NWR operates international rail s ...
in 1892. The Amritsar–Dera Baba Nanak branch line serves the western part of Batala tehsil. Prior to the
partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...
in 1947, this line was long and was linked to
Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...
(now in Pakistan), but after partition
Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. It is the sub-district headquarters of Dera Baba Nanak (Sub-district), Dera Baba Nanak tehsil. It is 36 km away from Gurdaspur ...
became the terminus. The Batala–Qadian link serves the eastern part of Batala tehsil. The long
Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...
Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...
line ran thus:
Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...
Dera Baba Nanak Dera Baba Nanak is a town and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, in the state of Punjab (India), Punjab, India. It is the sub-district headquarters of Dera Baba Nanak (Sub-district), Dera Baba Nanak tehsil. It is 36 km away from Gurdaspur ...
Narowal Narowal ( Punjabi / ; ) is a historic a city located on the western bank of river Ravi in Punjab Pakistan. It was found by a Jat named Baba Naro Bajwa many centuries ago. The city is the capital of district Narowal, and a part of the Guj ...
Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...
, crossing the long
Ravi River The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two oth ...
Bridge. As of 2013, the Lahore–Narowal–Sialkot railway line passes near the India–Pakistan border through the western outskirts of Narowal, just opposite Dera Baba Nanak, before turning north-westwards to Pasrur and Sialkot. During the
2015 Gurdaspur attack On 27 July 2015, three gunmen dressed in army uniforms opened fire on a bus and then attacked the Dina Nagar police station in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India. The attack resulted in the death of three civilians and four policemen, includin ...
, disaster was averted on this line as a railway lineman, Ashwani Saini, noticed a bomb on the track and alerted the authorities before the next train arrived. He also ran down the line waving a red flag to alert the driver of the next train to stop. The train that was due to traverse this track, with more than 270 people on board, stopped only a hundred yards from the bomb.


Importance

This line is strategically very important. It connects three border districts of Punjab with each other namely Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Pathankot. This lines provides a diversion or substitute route to Jalandhar–Jammu line. Whenever this track gets interrupted either due to any protest or a technical/mechanical work, then most of the trains get diverted via Amritsar–Gurdaspur to Pathankot and further to Jammu and vice versa. This line can also play a strategic role and help military movement in war conditions. The important stations on this line are Amritsar, Batala, Gurdaspur & Pathankot. Other landmark stoppages are Verka, Dhariwal and Dinanagar.


Railway workshop

Amritsar railway workshop carries out periodic overhaul of WDS-4 locos and breakdown cranes and bogie manufacture.


Passenger movement

is the only station on this line which is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.


Railway reorganisation

Sind Railway (later reorganised as
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 1869. ...
) was formed a guaranteed railway in 1856. It constructed broad-gauge railways from Delhi to Multan via Lahore, and from Karachi to Kotri. Multan and Kotri were connected by ferry service on the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayas, Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northw ...
. In 1871–72, Indus Valley Railway was formed to connect Multan and Kotri. At the same time, Punjab Northern State Railway started constructing from Lahore towards Peshawar. In 1886, Sind, Punjab and Delhi Railway was acquired by the state and amalgamated with Indus Valley Railway and Punjab Northern State Railway to form
North Western State Railway The North Western State Railway (NWSR) 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 ...
. With the
partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...
in 1947, North Western Railway was split. While the western portion became Pakistan West Railway, and later
Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways is the state-owned railway operator in Pakistan. Founded in 1861 as the North Western State Railway and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of operational track across Pakistan, stretching from Peshawar to Karachi, offering bot ...
, the eastern part became Eastern Punjab Railway. In 1952, Northern Railway was formed with a portion of East Indian Railway Company west of Mughalsarai, Jodhpur Railway, Bikaner Railway and Eastern Punjab Railway.


References


External links


Trains at Amritsar Trains at Pathankot JunctionAmritsar-Dera Baba Nanak DMU time table
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amritsar - Pathankot line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Punjab, India * Railway lines opened in 1884 Transport in Pathankot Transport in Amritsar