The Khyber Railway

THE construction of the Khyber Railway is one of those projects that can be justified only by their results. It is one of the costliest railway schemes ever undertaken in India. For less than 28 miles of railway line, a sum of no less than Rs 2.50 crore has been spent, and it has taken the engineers no less than five years to construct the system. We don't have before us at the time of writing the figures for the other difficult railways in India, such as the Kalka-Simla Railway, The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Assam-Bengal Railway, with which alone the new railway can be properly compared, but it is safe to assert that both in respect of the time and labour involved and the rate of expenditure per mile, the new railway easily beats most of its predecessors. It was perhaps for this reason as much as for any other that it became necessary for Sir Clement Hindley to dwell with particular emphasis on the arduous nature of the difficulties that had to be encountered in the construction, and the skill, energy and initiative that was needed to overcome them, adding somewhat significantly that “the finished work shows so little sign of the difficulties and anxieties which have been buried behind the lining of tunnels or beneath other structures.” The question which the man in the street will naturally ask, however, is, has this expenditure of time, energy and money fulfilled its objects? Is it likely to do so in future? It is a pity that this is exactly the point in respect of which no data for an adequate judgment is afforded either in the two otherwise interesting speeches made on the occasion of the opening of the railway or in the Viceroy’s message.