Rohri–Chaman Railway Line () (also referred to as Main Line 3 or ML-3) is one of four main

railway lines in Pakistan This is a list of Railway lines in Pakistan. The lines and the stations are owned and operated by Pakistan Railways. Rail lines in Pakistan are divided into main lines and branch lines. Main lines Branch lines * Hyderabad–Khokhrapar Branch ...

, 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 begins from Rohri Junction station and ends at Chaman station. The total length of this railway line is . There are 38 railway stations from Rohri Junction to Chaman on this line and is famous for passing through the historic

Bolan pass Bolan Pass () is a valley and a natural gateway through the Toba Kakar range in Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is situated south of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The pass is an stretch of the Bolan River valley from Rindli in the ...

. This line incorporates part of the historic

Sind–Pishin State Railway The Sind–Pishin State Railway was the name of a broad gauge line that ran between Rohri, Sindh and Chaman, Balochistan. In 1886, the southern section of the Sind–Pishin State Railway was amalgamated with the Kandahar State Railway and seve ...

History

Originally named the

, this strategic railway line was constructed by 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 1869. ...

. Construction began in 1879 and was completed in 1887, which by then was part of the

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 ...

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

was always considered as an important strategic destination by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, as they feared the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

could advance from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

into Quetta, thereby threatening its rule in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. Wikipedia "History of rail transport in Pakistan"; Retrieved 13 Dec 2015 On 6 October 1879, work on the first section from Ruk (now Rohri) to Sibi (at the entrance of the Nari Pass) and was completed by 14 January 1880. The track had been laid in 101 days across the water less desert by 5000 men and their animals. In 1880, orders were issued for the line to be extended from Sibi to Quetta and onward to Pishin via the

Harnai Harnai (, ) town serves as the administrative headquarters of Harnai District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Until 2007, the town was in Sibi District. It is located in the northeast of Balochistan province. The town is surrounded ...

Pass and would become known as the Kandahar State Railway. It was initially thought that the Harnai pass was more suitable for broad gauge than the

Bolan Pass Bolan Pass () is a valley and a natural gateway through the Toba Kakar range in Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is situated south of Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The pass is an stretch of the Bolan River valley from Rindli in the ...

. In 1883, construction began in secret and known in public as the "Harnai Road Improvement Scheme". From Sibi, the line ran southwest, skirting the hills to Rindli and originally followed the course of the Bolan stream to its head on the plateau. By February 1884, the line had only reached Zardalu. The tough terrain as well as the destructive action of floods led to the abandonment of this alignment. A new extension was thus proposed from Sibi through the Mashkaf Valley and Bolan Pass to Quetta and onward to Chaman in 1885. The line reached Quetta in March 1887, and reached Chaman in January 1892. The section between Khojak and Chaman required the construction of the longest railway tunnel in the

system.

Stations

The stations on this line are as follows:

References

Railway stations on Rohri–Chaman Railway Line Railway lines opened in 1879 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in Pakistan Rail transport in Balochistan, Pakistan {{Pakistan-rail-transport-stub

History

Stations

See also

References