KHYBER STEAM SAFARI         

The Khyber Steam Safari is a unique train ride through the legendary Khyber Pass, by antiquated steam mechanism. Two steam locomotives, Hgs 2-8-oS, one in the rear and one up front, haul the carriages through the Khyber. Every burst of steam or whoop of the whistle echoes the history and myth of the Khyber. The British built the railroad in 1900 at an enormous cost of Rs. 2 million. Two or three coaches are pulled and push by two 1920 model steam engines. At one point, the track climbs 130 meters in less than a kilometer, this isthe famous Shagai Spur, a section of track shaped like a “w” with two reversing.

The Khyber Pass begins at a distance of 18 km, west of Peshawar near Jamrud Fort. Jamrud, entrance to the Khyber Pass, witnessed the Iron Kiss in 1901 and 1905. The track passes up the Kabul (gorge) before turning east, up the Loi Shalman Valley. Enemity with Russia stopped the work and the scheme was abandoned. In 1909, the Afghan War sparked the incentive again. The section from Jamrud to Landikotal was opened on 3rd November 1925 and on 23rd April 1926, to the Durand Line. The railway track is a great feat from the engineering point of view. It has ruling gradient of three percent between Jamrud and Landikotal, 1059 meters above the sea level, a rise of nearly 606 meters in 34 kilometers. The track then drops 264 meters in seven kilometers to Landi Khana. There are four reversing station, thirty-four tunnels, ninety-two bridges and culverts and six ordinary watering stations. Originally, the Khyber Railway was designed for the movement of the troops and supplies in emergencies. The line between Landikotal and Landikhana has been closed since 1932 on the insistence of the Afghan Government. However, until the Russian invasion in Afghanistan, a passenger train used to operate between Peshawar and Landikotal. Nowadays it is only running as a chartered train.

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