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
06:30
day 1
16:00
day 1
17:00
day 1
18:00
day 1
22:30
day 1
-
-
-
Hyderabad
arr/dep
09:00
day 1
18:10
day 1
19:35
day 1
20:30
day 1
01:15
day 2
-
-
-
Rohri
arr/dep
13:15
day 1
21:45
day 1
00:10
day 2
00:30
day 2
05:35
day 2
-
-
-
Multan (Cantonment)
arr/dep
|
|
06:25
day 2
|
13:25
day 2
-
-
-
Lahore (Junction)
arr/dep
23:50
day 1
08:00
day 2
13:15
day 2
10:40
day 2
21:00
day 2
07:00
07:45
16:30
Rawalpindi
arr/dep
-
-
18:45
day 2
-
02:30
day 3
12:15
12:15
21:05
Attock
arr/dep
-
-
-
-
04:16
day 3
-
-
-
Peshawar (City)
arrive
-
-
-
-
05:43
day 3
-
-
-
Peshawar (Cantonment)
arrive
-
-
-
-
06:00
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
-
22:45
day 1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Peshawar (City)
depart
-
22:55
day 1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Attock
arr/dep
-
00:29
day 2
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rawalpindi
arr/dep
-
02:30
day 2
08:00
day 1
-
-
07:30
16:30
18:00
Lahore (Junction)
arr/dep
06:30
day 1
08:30
day 2
13:30
day 1
16:00
day 1
18:00
day 1
12:05
21:05
21:30
Multan (Cantonment)
arrive
|
15:58
day 2
20:20
day 1
|
|
-
-
-
Rohri
arr/dep
17:25
day 1
23:30
day 2
03:05
day 2
o1:35
day 2
04:45
day 2
-
-
-
Hyderabad
arr/dep
21:20
day 1
03:15
day 3
07:15
day 2
04:50
day 2
08:25
day 2
-
-
-
Karachi (Cantonment)
arrive
23:55
day 1
06:30
day 3
09:50
day 2
07:20
day 2
11:00
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 (£25 / $44)
Rs ?
Rs 1,175 (£11 / $20)
Rs ?
Rs 505 (£5 / $9)
Karachi - Lahore
(by Karakoram Express)
n/a
Rs 1,945 (£19 / $34)
Rs 1,315 (£13 / $22)
Rs 795 (£8 / $14)
Rs 715 (£7 / $12)
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 -
India
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,
leaving Karachi every Friday at 23:00 and arriving at the
Pakistan/India
frontier at Zero Point at around 08:00 next morning,
going forward after customs checks to Munabao on the
Indian side arriving around 11:00. After customs
checks the train leaves Munabao at 15:00, arriving Jodphur at 21:30
Saturday. In the
westbound direction, the train leaves Jodhpur
at 23:30 on Fridays, arriving Munabao
at 08:00 next morning, leaving Munabao
again at around 14:30 on Saturdays, reaching Karachi around
midnight Saturday night. No more information is currently
available, but feedback would be appreciated..!
The train will have one sleeping-car and several economy
cars. Sleeper fare about Rs230 from Karachi to
zero point, and Rs170 from zero point/Munabao to
Jodhpur..
Pakistan -
Iran
Trains run
from Quetta to Zahedan (Iran) twice a month, see the
Europe-India overland page. However, in
October 2006 it was reported that this train has been
temporarily stopped because of repeated bomb attacks.
Alternative buses may 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
Opodo.com. Opodo is a flight-booking site started by
a consortium of airlines and Amadeus, and it's normally
where I start looking for a flight myself. Seat61 gets a small commission through this link.
