The Mirpur Khas–Nawabshah Railway (,
Sindhi: ميرپور خاص ـ نواب شاھ ريلوي لائين) was one of several
branch lines in Pakistan, operated and maintained by
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 line was unique in that it was one of the few
Metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
railways in the region. The line began at
Mirpur Khas Junction and ended at
Nawabshah Junction. The total length of this railway line was with 15 railway stations.
History
Following the completion of the
Hyderabad–Jodhpur Railway in 1892, and its subsequent conversion from
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 ...
to
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
in 1901,
[ " Administration Report on the Railways in India – corrected up to 31st March 1918"; Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta; page 188]
Retrieved 6 Feb 2016 plans to extend the metre gauge network through
Sindh
Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
were proposed. In 1909, the metre gauge railway was extended from Mirpur Khas northwards to Nawabshah and southwards to Jhudo. The railway reached Khadro in 1912 and Nawabshah in 1939. The railway heavily used for freight transport, most of which was
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
, fresh vegetables and large quantities of red chilies.
Closure
The railway continued to operate through the 1990s despite degradation of the line and was closed in February 2005.
Stations
The stations on this line are as follows:
See also
*
Railway lines in Pakistan
References
Closed railway lines in Pakistan
Railway stations on Mirpur Khas–Nawabshah Branch Line
Railway lines opened in 1912
Railway lines closed in 2005
Metre-gauge railways in Pakistan
{{Pakistan-rail-transport-stub