The Trans–Baluchistan Railway was constructed as part of a strategic military route between the
British Raj (now
Pakistan) and
Qajar Iran. The first section from
Quetta (Pakistan) to
Nushki (Pakistan) branch line was opened on 15 November 1905. The railway construction west of Nushki towards Iran was named the Nushki Extension Railway and the railway line reached the Iranian town of Duzdap (now Zahedan) on 1 October 1922. However, the military importance of the line had declined after
World War I and in 1931, the 221 kilometer section between Nok Kundi and Duzdap (Zahedan) was closed down and the track removed to be used elsewhere.
World War II however, renewed interest in the Quetta–Zahedan link with the British forces wanting to aid the Soviet forces by supplying material through
Pahlavi Iran. The Quetta–Zahedan link was reopened on 20 April 1940. An interesting account of the Quetta-Zahedan line is available in an archived website. Iranian Railways developed rapidly post WWII and part of this was an extension towards its borders with Turkey, Iraq, Russia (and Afghanistan) and eventually Pakistan which saw a rail route develop in stages from Tehran to the east, eventually reaching Zahedan. The 225 km from Kerman in central Iran to
Bam was completed between 1999 and 2002 and the 546 km extension to Zahedan began in 2000. The route of the extension was quite difficult to construct and avoided the circuitous road route (Route 84 Zahedan–
Narmashir) around the north of the Zahedan mountain ranges, much of it above 1400m. Instead, the Bam–Zahedan extension railway used a much more direct route, heading for a narrow gorge through the mountains across wide outflow plains with seasonal braided channels. After a major viaduct crossing the seasonal outflow that terminates in the
Lut Desert the railway starts climbing from a low point of 435m (Google Earth) with increasingly steep gradients and tunnels as it passes through the outflow gorge in the mountains. Beyond this it reaches the valley of the seasonal river valley from Zahedan mountains which required many viaducts across mostly dry rivers from side valleys. The land opens out after Shuru station (1375 m Google Earth) into a high level plain with shallow seasonal river valleys and the railway reaches a summit of 1796m (Google Earth) before dropping gently towards Zahedan (Google Earth 1385m). The construction of the railway from Bam to Zahedan was completed in early 2009 connecting Tehran to the Pakistan border with an opening ceremony on 19 July 2009 with an international container service commencing operations on 14 August 2009 requiring trans-shipment between the broad gauge and standard gauge. The railway has 11 bridges, the largest bridge 400 metres long, and 20 tunnels totalling 5320 metres. The freight traffic was discontinued however after the initial trial trains and was only revived in 2015. Iranian Railways have been trying to persuade Pakistan Railways to convert its route to Quetta to standard gauge, in order to facilitate the flow of international traffic to Europe. Pakistan responded in 2006 with a statement that it is to convert its network to standard gauge and would plan a link with the standard gauge system of China. A through passenger service is being considered to supplement the occasional Quetta–Zahedan service, formerly Pakistan–Iran 'Taftan Express'. == Facilities ==