The Lahore Railway Station, historic that it is, has scores of amazing incidents related to it. Each one tying into the other, and each story – true incidents all of them – are part of Lahore’s amazing history.

First the station itself. The Lahore Railway Station is among the two oldest railway stations of British India. They both started being built together, with the Chhatrapati Shivaji station of Maharashtra and the Lahore Railway Station starting to be built together. These stations were the result of the 1857 War of Independence, where the East India Company planners felt that the Punjabis and the Marathas posed the biggest problem to British rule.

The designer of the Lahore Railway Station was William Brunton, the famous architect. The then Governor General of India, Lord Dalhousie, had forced the setting up of the railways as the best way of truly conquering India. Rapid troop movement was the reason. In his scheme of things (see EIC archives 1849 - Gazetteer Lahore -1558-3058) it was “critical to join the western borders to the centre of India by rail, to rapidly tackle the alleged Russian threat as also a possible rebellious Punjabi Sikhs”.

The instructions to the architect Brunton were to design a railway station that in extreme circumstances could act as a fort against any rebellion. As things turned out in 1857 there was a mass rebellion, but in the Punjab the Bengali sepoys rebelled not the Sikhs, for they, ironically, supported the British colonialists.

If you are a student of history you will realise that these very Sikhs – because of infighting - had been responsible for the collapse of the Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh. The British richly rewarded these rebelling Sikh sardars, who are even today among the richest in Indian Punjab.

The design of the Lahore railway station started immediately after the events of 1857. It was a ‘medieval’ styled fort with thick walls able to face cannon fire, with turrets and holes to fire gun and cannons at any attacker. The design is such that even if ‘rebels’ enter the station they were not able to enter the firing positions.

The contractor of this massive undertaking was Mian Mohammad Sultan Chughtai, a former Mughal era contractor, whose ‘Sultan ke Serai’ is still famous, located as it was once outside Delhi Gate. He had taken over the house of the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh and built his ‘serai’ there and had also picked up bricks from several destroyed Mughal palaces like Pari Mahal and Rang Mahal in the destroyed walled city.

Much later this very station was also witness to a brutal baton charge on 30th of October 1928 when the freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai was injured and died later. His death led to a series of revolutionary actions the result of which ended with the hanging of the revolutionary Bhagat Singh on the 23rd of March 1931. Our communal-minded rulers still refuse to name that execution spot – now a roundabout - after him.

The really interesting development in railway history is to trace just how did the very first locomotive engine arrive in Lahore. The fact was that then there were no tracks between Lahore and the port city of Karachi. The Lahore-Amritsar line though complete, was not functional. Therefore, Karachi being the closest port to Lahore, was used to import the first locomotive that was to drive down in Lahore.

From Karachi this steam locomotive was shipped to Lahore via river transportation system. It was a long and slow journey. The locomotive was shipped from Karachi’s Kemari port via a steamer ship to Kotri. From Kotri it was transferred to a steam boat of the Indus Steam Flotilla company, a trip that took 34 days to Multan.

The steamer used the River Indus and then turned on to the Chenab. From the Chenab the steamer turned on to the Ravi. At Lahore it was received on the banks of the Ravi. At that place just opposite Sanda Kalan nearer the Chauburji, for the river then flowed nearby. Even today at that place remnants of the Mughal era wooden bridge foundations exist, though they are decaying.

From the banks of Ravi the locomotive was brought into the city where a huge gathering of city notables and walled city folk had collected. As no railway tracks existed from the banks of the River Ravi to Chauburji, the locomotive was pulled along on Lahore streets by 102 bullocks pushed by two elephants. This event was mentioned in the ‘Lahore Chronicle’ of March 1862, which said:

“Wednesday last was a great day in Lahore, and one that will be long remembered as the commencement of a new era in the Punjab.

“On the afternoon of that day, the bulk of the European residents and a large portion of the native inhabitants of the city assembled near the beautiful ‘Char Burj’ where tents had been erected for the accommodation of the ladies and a band of music in attendance for their amusement”.

The arrival of the locomotive spread many a rumour that the “gooras had introduced an iron Djinn” said one description. Once the locomotive reached the Lahore railway station, it was put on the Lahore-Amritsar track. At that particular time the rail track to Kandahar from Quetta was also underway. The British believed that it was needed to stop the Russians. In a similar move the track to Landi Kotal was being rushed. In the end the Russians did not enter.

The British East India Company’s planners initially had armed guards all along the tracks. Anyone approaching the tracks was arrested, some even shot. The fear of even touching the tracks was firmly in the minds of the people. In a way even today it is a feared track.

But then from steam engines to oil-fired engines to electric engines, the railway train has progressed in its energy inputs. Its speed has also increased. The problem now is that the tracks can no longer manage to hold speeding trains. Every other day a train topples. The railways minister just last week said that our tracks are over 165 years old – probably the world’s oldest – and they certainly cannot safely manage trains running over 60 mph. “They are disintegrating”, said an official. For greater details read MBK Mallick’s book on the subject, as also Owais Mughal 2008 piece.

So,, from water steamers to bullocks and elephants to steam engines, it seems Pakistan’s railway service needs to be modernised – both tracks and personal. Less than one per cent of travellers today use air services. Another 15 per cent buses. The train service needs to grow out of its bullock mentality. In a way our failed railways are holding up the country’s progress. One hopes our rulers read and act on this possibility.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2025