Here are some routes I'd like to see eventually in TSW2: Karachi as well as Quetta to Peshawar < Passenger and freight trains as well as Steam trains operating the route Some history about the route: Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line (Urdu: کراچی–پشاور مرکزی ریل راستہ, romanized: karāčī-pešāvar markazī rēl rāsta) (also referred to as Main Line 1 or ML-1) is one of four main railway lines in Pakistan, operated and maintained by Pakistan Railways. The line begins from Karachi City station or Kiamari station and ends at Peshawar Cantonment Station. The total length of this railway line is 1,687 kilometres (1,048 mi). There are 184 railway stations from Kamari to Peshawar Cantonment on this line. The line serves as the main passenger and freight line of the country. 75% of the country's cargo and passenger traffic uses the line. The line is currently undergoing a six-year ₨886.68 billion (US$5.5 billion) upgrade and renovation as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, with average rail speeds expected to be doubled to 160 kilometres per hour upon completion. The present-day Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line was built as a patchwork of different railways during the 19th century. The present-day line consists of the following historic sections built between 1861 and 1900: Here's some history about this first section of the route that was opened: https://www.irfca.org/articles/karachi-kotri.html The route in those days used 2-4-0 tender engines from the UK Kotri–Rohri section, opened in 1900 Rohri–Multan section, opened in 1879 (Empress Bridge (near Bahawalpur) over the Sutlej River, opened in 1878) Multan–Lahore section, opened in 1861 Lahore–Peshawar section, opened in 1876 (Attock Bridge over the Indus River, opened in 1883) Early development The Scinde Railway was constructed in 1861 as a 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge railway line between Karachi and Kotri. Work on the line had commenced in April 1858 and was the first railway line for public use in the region. Following the completion of the line, the Indus Steam Flotilla began docking in Kotri (instead of Karachi) from Multan. The Punjab Railway was constructed and inaugurated in late 1861 as a 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge railway line between Multan and Lahore, and later extended to Amritsar. Thus the travel time between Sindh and Punjab was greatly reduced together with the Scinde Railway, Indus Steam Flotilla and Punjab Railways; what normally took 40 days to travel between Karachi and Lahore now took 48 hours to transport passengers and cargo. Mergers & expansion In 1870, the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway was formed from the incorporation of the Scinde Railway, Indus Steam Flotilla, Punjab Railway and Delhi Railway companies in order to increase the efficiency of passenger and cargo transport between Sindh and Punjab. However, the rail gap between Kotri and Multan was considered a hassle as the Indus River and Sutlej River were major obstacles to cross at the time. In 1871, the Indus Valley State Railway was inaugurated and construction began on extending the railway line from Multan south towards Bahawalpur (crossing the Sutlej River) and onwards to Rohri. In 1876, the Punjab Northern State Railway was constructed between Lahore and Peshawar and in 1883 the Attock Bridge over the Indus River was opened. In 1878, the Empress Bridge over the Sutlej River was opened and in 1879 the Indus Valley State Railway reached Rohri. From Rohri, a steam ferry would transport eight rail carriages at a time across the Indus between Rohri and Sukkur. This was found to be cumbersome and time-consuming. In 1889, the Lansdowne Bridge between Rohri and Sukkar was opened and in 1893, work on the Kotri Bridge commenced. It was only in 1900 that the section between Rohri and Kotri was completed. In 1885, all the companies were merged to form the North Western State Railway. Here is a link to photos of the locomotives which are used on the network: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotives_of_Pakistan Here's a short clip of a passenger train passing through Pakistan with PK Rail stock: Reference links: https://newikis.com/en/Karachi–Peshawar_Railway_Line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotives_of_Pakistan https://www.beltroad-initiative.com/bri-factsheet-series-karachi-peshawar-line/ The route above is Karachi–Peshawar Line (Main Line 1) with 184 stations and a lot of freight trains from industries on that route (Most probably oil, steel and mineral trains) Some more Pakistani routes I'd like to see are the following: Kotri–Attock Line (Main Line 2) with 112 stations Rohri–Chaman Line (Main Line 3): 40 stops Quetta–Taftan Line (Main Line 4) > This route goes into Afghanistan and is still under construction. It will have 10 stops and will continue into Iran. Another route which I'd like to see in Pakistan is Malakwal–Khushab Branch Line : < For some reason it's going to the Salt mine in Khewra Pakistan. Steam trains were taken out of service officially sometime in the late 80's early 90's possibly early 2000's is when Steam locomotives were officially retired> This is by memory, Please consider the above suggestions DTG. I'm keen to hear what the rest of you have to say about these routes
Well, that looks interesting. It's different from the usual stuff. And wow, still operating steam trains early 2000s? There's something cool about that.
Well, that's Pakistan for the win They do things in an unconventional way. I actually remember seeing a Steam Locomotive on static display at Lahore Station, was a beautiful sight
I think by memory Steam locomotives were officially retired in 2002 (My uncle's friend is a retired steam locomotive driver and that's what he told me). Mainline steam ended officially in 1988, and then the heritage and tourist steam locomotives followed 20 odd years later
