The Railway Route forcefully vanished. A Story of Firozpur-Kasur-Khem Karan-Amritsar Railway line. (From Indian Railway History book)
A. Introduction:- Its been 74 yrs since the last train services ran on Jammu-Sialkot-Narowal-Dera Baba Nanak-Amritsar, Faridkot/Ludhiana-Raiwind-Lahore, Amritsar-Khem Karan-Kasur-Firozpur/Lodhran & Muktsar/Bhatinda-Bahawalpur-Samasata routes. But partition changed everything.
Partition in 1947:- The partition line drawn, planned & recommended by Sir Radcliff, had many important places of Punjab in India. Details as follows:-
1....
more... On the Faridkot/Ludhiana-Raiwind-Lahore line, Ganda Singhwala & Kasur Jn. was slated to be part of Indian Punjab. 2. On the Amritsar-Khem Karan-Kasur-Firozpur/Lodhran railway line, Kasur Jn. was inside India. Kasur was slated to be part of Indian Punjab. 3. On the Jammu-Sialkot-Narowal-Dera Baba Nanak-Amritsar railway line, Sialkot, Narowal, Jasar, Kartarpur, Shakargarh & Chak Amru was slated to be part of Indian Punjab. 4. On the Muktsar/Bhatinda-Bahawalpur-Samasata railway line, Amruka, Mandi Sadiqganj, Qasamwala & Bahawalnagar were slated to be part of Indian Punjab.
B. Partition Went Wrong:- Alas, when the partition line was implemented it was found that Ganda Singhwala, Kasur, Sialkot, Narowal, Jasar, Kartarpur, Shakargarh, Chak Amru, Amruka, Mandi Sadiqganj, Qasamwala & Bahawalnagar were given to Pakistani Punjab rather than Indian Punjab. This snapped important legendary trains, running before the partition & short terminating the routes. Trains like Punjab Mail from Peshawar/Lahore to Kolkata via Amritsar-Lucknow-Varanasi & Punjab Mail from Peshawar/Lahore to Mumbai via Faridkot-Bhatinda-Delhi, Frontier Mail from Peshawar/Lahore to Mumbai via Amritsar-Saharanpur-Delhi, The Grand Trunk Express from Peshawar/Lahore to Mangalore via Amritsar-Delhi-Chennai & The Chenab Express from Jammu to Lodhran via Sialkot, Narowal, Dera Baba Nanak, Amritsar, Khem Karan & Kasur were stopped. Although Punjab Mail to Kolkata, Punjab Mail to Mumbai & Frontier Mail to Mumbai from Lahore ran till 1965, their importance plummeted greatly. Only the Bahawalpur Express from Bhatinda to Samasata via Muktsar-Fazilka-Mandi Sadiqganj-Bahawalpur, the Bahawal Express from Delhi to Bahawalnagar via Bhatinda-Abohar-Hindumalkot-Mandi Sadiqganj, Satluj Express from Ludhiana to Lodhran via Moga-Firozpur-Kasur & Ravi Express from Shorkot Cantt. to Pathankot via Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura-Lahore-Amritsar-Gurdaspur were successfully running until 1965 war permanently closed the journey in Pakistan soil.
Post 1965 War:- Punjab Mail to Howrah & Frontier Mail to Mumbai had their terminal points changed to Amritsar. Punjab to Mumbai had its terminal changed to Firozpur Cantt. Bahawalpur Express permanently became a Pakistani Train running from Bahawalnagar to Sialkot via Lodhran-Khanewal-Raiwind-Lahore-Narowal. Bahawal Express was permanently withdrawn from service with Satluj Express becoming the only train running between Firozpur & Ludhiana(Now Chandigarh). Ravi Express was confined to run between Pathankot & Khem Karan, later in between Amritsar & Pathankot only.
Conclusion:- Just the blunder during implementing partition of Punjab, which happened not as per the plan & recommendations of Sir Radcliff, but as per Indian Political leaders wishes ruined Firozpur-Kasur-Khem Karan-Amritsar Railway forever.
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please wait...Show AI ResponseIt is a tragic story of the Firozpur-Kasur-Khem Karan-Amritsar Railway line. Partition of India in 1947 changed everything and the railway route was forcefully vanished. It has been 74 years since the last train services ran on this route. The partition line drawn by Sir Radcliffe had many important places of Punjab in India. Kasur Junction was inside India on the Amritsar-Khem Karan-Kasur-Firozpur/Lodhran railway line. Despite the passage of time, the memories of the lost rail route are still alive in the hearts of people.