Amid a steady throng of pedestrians sit hawkers selling cookies and snacks. In one corner, an astrologer proudly displays his fortune-telling parrot, while quacks try to convince people to bring their dental problems to the sidewalk rather than a dentist’s office.

This is not a scene from a bustling bazaar, but a snapshot of life on the Porrian Wallah Pul, literally ‘stair bridge’, which connects Rawalpindi’s city and cantonment areas by allowing people to cross the railway lines near Rawalpindi Railway Station. The nearly-135-year old bridge is a testament to the quality of British engineering under the Raj.

The British laid railway tracks in Rawalpindi and also installed the pedestrian bridge around 1881.

The iron truss bridge is now in dilapidated condition. Originally covered, the bridge lost its roof around 20 years ago.

However, life on the bridge has remained unchanged for decades now.

The hawkers that have been there since the bridge was first erected remain; but their wares have changed. Now, one can buy mobile phone SIM cards while walking from one end to the other. Not everyone who comes here does so to cross over to the other side. The bridge is a favourite destination for train-watchers, who come here and stand, leaning over the railing, watching trains pull in and out of the bustling Rawalpindi junction.

Mohammad Anwar, a passerby, told Dawn he often came to the bridge to watch the trains go by. On the cantt side of the bridge, there is a market for second hand clothes near the entrance to Saddar Bazaar. On the city side, there is a timber market, tombstone carvers and machine shops.

Bashir Ahmed Malik, 73, a trader at Saddar Bazaar, said he had been using the bridge to go to his house in Gawalmandi for 40 years now. He recalls that there used to be a tonga stand near the bridge to facilitate commuters coming and going from the station.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2016