Narrow Gauge Steam in Nepal and Pakistan

Presenter: Geoff Warren

Over 6000 km of railway of gauges at or less than 2ft 6in were built in the Indian subcontinent. Compared to those in post-independence India, the lines in Nepal and Pakistan were less easy to reach and received fewer railway enthusiast visitors. But in the early 1980s, almost all traffic was still steam hauled.

The Janakpur Railway was an international route across the border from Nepal into India. It was steam worked until 1993 and closed in 2013. It was known for its usually very overcrowded trains and two Garratt locomotives. It was remote from main centres of population and access slow and often uncomfortable, but a visit was very rewarding for all who went there.

The narrow gauge railways in Pakistan were mostly constructed for strategic purposes, to provide access to the politically unstable regions bordering Afghanistan. In 1984, the lines from Kohat to Thal, and Mari Indus to Bannu and Tank, were still in operation. The railway at Changa Manga, near Lahore, was built in 1866 to access an irrigated forest plantation. By 1984 it had started a tourist operation in parallel with the logging and it survives today.