Train Safari

The Khyber train safari is a railway route in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. The colonial era railway route has been described as "a journey into time and history". It consists of a train pulled by two vintage steam locomotives built in 1920s that takes passengers through breathtaking and rugged mountainous terrain. The train covers a total of 42 kilometres through 34 tunnels and 92 bridges and culverts. The local tribesmen are allowed a free ride on the train as per the agreement reached between them and the British back in the colonial era and which is still honoured by the Pakistan government.

The 1920s model vintage oil-fired steam engines, which push and pull the carriages from the rear and front, were built by Vulcan Foundry and by Kitson & Co, in the United Kingdom. The inaugural journey between Jamrud, near Peshawar, and Landi Kotal was made on November 4, 1925. The wife of Victor Bailey, the engineer who was assigned the construction of the line, drove the first train on the Khyber Pass Railway into Landi Kotal. The steam safari carriage climbs more than 1,200 metres through 34 tunnels and 92 bridges, and culverts to reach Landi Kotal.

The Khyber Railway has experienced the ups-and-downs of the times: train operations were stopped in 1982, as the railway was not commercially viable. However, in the 1990s, the KSS was launched by a private enterprise in collaboration with Pakistan Railways. The steam-operated carriage covers about 50 kilometres in almost five hours to reach Landi Kotal, located in the historical Khyber Agency, from Peshawar. The parlour of the train comprises 75 seats, including 28 window seats, with onboard kitchenette, service counter and two toilet facilities. One of the unique features of this train journey is that its path passes through the Peshawar Airport runway -- making it the only airport runway in the world through which a railway line passes.