Air-conditioned lower class (both seat & sleeper versions);
Parlour car (comfortable open-plan seating.
Recommended for daytime journeys);
Economy class seats;
2nd class - seat and sleeper versions.
Most important trains also have a restaurant car.
You can check train times and availability at the
Pakistan Railways site,
www.pakrail.com.
***
Critical issue *** In summer 2009 it's reported that Pakistan is not allowing westerners to use
trains or other surface travel within Pakistan, to avoid the
embarrassment of having a westerner involved in any
potential terrorist incident. The correspondent
was refused a visa for Pakistan when they realised he
was entering overland and intended using surface
transport. I do not know if this
is temporary or not. If you have any more
feedback, please please let me
know! It was later reported by the same
correspondent (in October 2009) that the Pakistani
embassy in Birmingham also refused a visa
on those grounds, but that the Bradford Pakistani
embassy had no problem issuing a visa for overland
travel, and he can now travel(!).
This is the
mainline across Pakistan, and route of Pakistan's most
famous train, the Khyber Mail. There are lots of
trains, but only the most important trains are shown
here. All trains shown have a restaurant car.
Karachi
► Lahore ► Peshawar
Train No.:
27
41
7
15
1
107
101
103
Classes:
P,L,E
P,L,E
A,1,L,E
A,L,E
A,1,E
P,L,E
P,L,E
P,L,E
Karachi (Cantonment)
depart
07:00
day 1
16:00
day 1
17:00
day 1
18:00
day 1
22:00
day 1
-
-
-
Hyderabad
arr/dep
09:45
day 1
18:40
day 1
19:45
day 1
20:35
day 1
00:50
day 2
-
-
-
Rohri
arr/dep
14:50
day 1
23:20
day 1
00:40
day 2
01:05
day 2
05:40
day 2
-
-
-
Multan (Cantonment)
arr/dep
|
|
07:20
day 2
|
14:03
day 2
-
-
-
Lahore (Junction)
arr/dep
02:45
day 1
10:15
day 2
14:15
day 2
12:00
day 2
21:40
day 2
07:00
07:30
16:30
Rawalpindi
arr/dep
-
-
19:30
day 2
-
03:10
day 3
11:00
12:30
21:30
Attock
arr/dep
-
-
-
-
04:30
day 3
-
-
-
Peshawar (City)
arrive
-
-
-
-
06:20
day 3
-
-
-
Peshawar (Cantonment)
arrive
-
-
-
-
06:40
day 3
-
-
-
A = AC
sleeper, 1 = 1st class sleeper, L = AC Lower seats, P =
Parlour car seats, E = Economy seats, 2 = 2nd class
seats
Train 1/2 =
The KHYBER MAIL. Recommended for Karachi-Peshawar
journeys.
Train 7/8 =
TEZGAM. Recommended for Karachi-Rawalpindi
journeys.
Train 15/16 =
KARACHI EXPRESS. Recommended for Karachi-Lahore
journeys.
Train 27/28 =
SHALIMAR EXPRESS. Recommended for Karachi-Lahore
journeys.
Train 41/42 =
KARAKORAM EXPRESS. Modern spacious Chinese-built
coaches, with AC Lower Class sleepers, no AC Class
sleepers.
Peshawar
► Lahore ► Karachi
Train No.:
28
2
8
42
16
104
102
108
Classes:
P,L,E
A,1,E
A,1,L,E
P,L,E
A,L,E
P,L,E
P,L,E
P,L,E
Peshawar (Cantonment)
depart
-
22:30
day 1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Peshawar (City)
depart
-
22:42
day 1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Attock
arr/dep
-
00:12
day 2
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rawalpindi
arr/dep
-
02:40
day 2
08:15
day 1
-
-
07:30
16:30
18:00
Lahore (Junction)
arr/dep
07:00
day 1
08:30
day 2
13:50
day 1
16:00
day 1
18:00
day 1
12:30
21:30
21:30
Multan (Cantonment)
arrive
|
15:30
day 2
20:55
day 1
|
|
-
-
-
Rohri
arr/dep
19:20
day 1
23:50
day 2
04:00
day 2
03:20
day 2
05:25
day 2
-
-
-
Hyderabad
arr/dep
00:10
day 1
05:25
day 3
09:15
day 2
07:55
day 2
09:55
day 2
-
-
-
Karachi (Cantonment)
arrive
03:00
day 1
06:45
day 3
12:00
day 2
10:45
day 2
12:50
day 2
-
-
-
Approximate fares
One-way per person:
AC sleeper
AC Lower (berth)
AC Lower (seat)
Economy (berth)
Economy (seat)
Karachi - Rawalpindi
Rs 2,600 (£21 / $30)
Rs ?
Rs 1,175 (£10 / $15)
Rs ?
Rs 505 (£4 / $7)
Karachi - Lahore
(by Karakoram Express)
n/a
Rs 1,945 (£16 / $23)
Rs 1,315 (£11 / $17)
Rs 795 (£7 / $10)
Rs 715 (£6 / $8)
Children under 3 free, children
3 but under 12 travel at half the adult fare.
Below: The Karakoram Express at Lahore station. Photo courtesy
of Koen Berghuis
The line up
the Khyber Pass, built by the British in 1920, is now officially closed to passenger
trains, but special steam excursions operate from time
to time.
Above:
The border closure ceremony at Atari. You can
attend this if you use buses or taxis to cross. Photo courtesy
of Koen Berghuis.
Above: The Samjohta Express crosses the
India/Pakistan border. Photo courtesy of
Sudhir Mehra.
Pakistan
to
India by train:
Lahore-Amritsar-Delhi...
A
twice-weekly train leaves Lahore at 08:00 on Mondays &
Thursdays (these are the confirmed days of running as at
November 2008, previously it ran on Tuesdays & Fridays)
for Wagah (the Pakistan side of the Pakistan/India
frontier) arriving 09:15, departing again after customs
checks at 11:30 (in practice usually after 12:00) for
Atari on the Indian side of the frontier, arriving 20
minutes later. The train has 2nd class non-air-con
seats only, and it's composed of Indian Railways
carriages for half the year, Pakistani coaches for the
other half (I suspect that the days of running may vary
depending on which country is providing the coaches - it
my run on Tues & Fri for part of the year when provided
by Indian Railways, please double-check locally).
There are connections for Amritsar arriving around
15:00, and for Delhi (please double-check connecting
times locally). The fare from Lahore to Wagah is
130 Pakistani rupees. Tickets are not sold at
Lahore's main station, but at Lahore Railway
Headquarters, about 2km from the station. You need
your passport to buy a ticket. The fare from Wagah
to Attari is 16 rupees.
For details of the westbound Samjhota Express from India to
Pakistan, and for information on train travel within India, see the
India page.
However,
Lahore-Amritsar can also be done daily, and faster,
by bus or taxi. Take a bus or taxi Lahore-Wagah,
walk through the frontier to Atari on the Indian side, then take a bus or taxi to
Amritsar for daily trains to New Delhi. Going by
bus or taxi also allows you to see the
spectacular ceremony at sunset when the border closes.
Indian and Pakistani guards try to outdo each other with
their performances, watched by Indians and
Pakistani crowds - as a tourist, you may
get to sit in the VIP stand! See the
India page.
Karachi-Munabao-Jodhpur-Delhi...
A new weekly
international train called the Thar Express started on
17 February 2006.
Eastbound: The Thar Express leaves Karachi every Friday
at 23:00, arriving at 'Zero Point' on the Pakistan/India
frontier at around 08:00 next morning. After customs
checks, the train goes forward to Munabao on the Indian side,
arriving around 11:00.The Indian train departs Munabao at 19:00 after customs
formalities, arriving Jodhpur (Bhagat Ki Kothi station) at 23:50 Saturday.
Westbound: The Thar Express leaves
Jodhpur (Bhagat Ki Kothi station, about 4km from the main
station) every Saturday morning at 01:00 arriving Munabao at 07:00, leaving
Munabao at around 14:30 on Saturdays, reaching Karachi at 02:15 on Sunday
morning.
The sleeper fare from Jodhpur to Munabao/zero point is about
Rs170, and from Munabao/zero point to Karachi is about Rs230.
No more information is yet available, but feedback would be
appreciated! The train has one sleeping-car and
several economy cars.
Pakistan -
Iran by train...
Trains run
from Quetta to Zahedan (Iran) twice a month, see the
Europe-India overland page.
Alternative buses may also be available, please
check locally. You should check the security
situation in this part of Iran at
www.fco.gov.uk before travelling.
London -
Pakistan overland by train...
This is
possible in 2-3 weeks, if you are adventurous and have
the necessary organisational & planning skills.
See the Europe-India overland page.
More information...
If
you have any photos, travel reports or more information that would be useful for
this page, please
e-mail me!
Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable
It's probably
the most adventurous timetable ever produced... The famous
Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable has train, bus and ferry times for
Pakistan and for every country in Africa, Asia, North and South America
and Australasia. It is published every two months.
It's
an essential publication
for any serious traveller, and an inspiration for armchair
travellers!
Find
a
hotel
in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar or elsewhere in Pakistan...
A good guidebook like the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide will
point you at some good hotels in each town or city when you
get there. Alternatively, you
can pre-book hotels in
most cities through
www.hotelscombined.com, just use the search box
below.
It's not a hotel booking website, but a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites for you (AsiaRooms,
Asiativ.com, Opodo, Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms and many
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates on the net. Set
up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place
to start for booking any hotel online worldwide.
Overland travel by train & bus
around Pakistan is an essential part of the experience,
so once there, don't cheat and fly, stay on the ground!
But a long-haul flight might be unavoidable to reach Asia in
the first place. For flights to
Pakistan, start with
www.e-bookers.com. Seat61 gets a small commission through this link.
