Fig. 43. Poplar lined road to Srínagar.

Railways. Main Lines.—It is just over fifty years since the first railway, a short line joining Lahore and Amritsar, was opened in 1862. Three years later Lahore was linked up with Multán and the small steamers which then plied on the Indus. Amritsar was connected with Delhi in 1870, and Lahore with Pesháwar in 1883. The line from Pesháwar to Lahore, and branching thence to Karáchí and Delhi may be considered the Trunk Line. The railway service has been enormously developed in the past thirty years. In 1912 there were over 4000 miles of open lines. There are now three routes from Delhi to Lahore:

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Fig. 44. Map showing railways.

(a) The N.W. Railway via Meerut and Saháranpur (on east of Jamna), and Ambála, Ludhiána, Jalandhar, Amritsar;

(b) The Southern Panjáb Railway via Jind, Rohtak, Bhatinda, and Ferozepore;

(c) The Delhi-Ambála-Kálka branch of the East Indian Rallway from Delhi through Karnál to Ambála, and thence by the N.W. Railway. This is the shortest route.

The Southern Panjáb Railway also connects Delhi with Karáchí through its junction with the N.W. Railway at Samasata to the south of Baháwalpur. Another route is by a line passing through Rewárí and the Merta junction. Karáchí is the natural seaport of the central and western Panjáb. The S.P. Railway now gives an easy connection with Ferozepore and Ludhiána, and the enormous export of wheat, cotton, etc. from the new canal colonies is carried by several lines which converge at Khanewál, a junction on the main line, a little north of Multán.

Railways. Minor Lines.—The Sind Ságar branch starting from Lála Musa between Lahore and Amritsar with smaller lines taking off further north at Golra and Campbellpur serves the part of the province lying north of the Salt Range. These lines converge at Kundian in the Mianwálí district, and a single line runs thence southwards to points on the Indus opposite Dera Ismail Khán and Dera Ghází Khán, and turning eastwards rejoins the trunk line at Sher Sháh near Multán. There are a number of branch lines in the plains, some owned by native States. Strategically a very important one is that which crossing the Indus by the Khushálgarh bridge unites Ráwalpindí with Kohát. The only hill railway is that from Kálka to Simla. A second is now under construction which, when completed, will connect Ráwalpindí with Srínagar. All these lines with the exception of the branch of the E.I. Railway mentioned above are worked by the staff of the N. W. State Railway, whose manager controls inside and outside the Panjáb some 5000 miles of open line. The interest earned in 1912 was 4½ p.c., a good return when it is considered that the parts of the system to the north of the Salt Range and the Sind Ságar railway were built primarily for strategic reasons.