Pakistan Railways in the context of "State-owned"

Rail transport in Pakistan began in 1855 during the British Raj, when several railway companies began laying track and operating in present-day Pakistan. The country's rail system has been nationalised as Pakistan Railways (originally the Pakistan Western Railway). The system was originally a patchwork of local rail lines operated by small private companies, including the Scinde, Punjab and Delhi Railways and the Indus Steam Flotilla. In 1870, the four companies were amalgamated as the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway. Several other rail lines were built shortly thereafter, including the Sind–Sagar and Trans–Baluchistan Railways and the Sind–Pishin, Indus Valley, Punjab Northern and Kandahar State Railways. These six companies and the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway merged to form the North Western State Railway in 1886. It was later renamed as North-Western Railway in 1905, and few decades following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the North Western Railway which mostly became part of Pakistani territory was renamed Pakistan Western Railway in 1961. It was later renamed as Pakistan Railways in 1974.

The Pakistan Western Railway (Urdu: پاکستان مغربی ریلویز) was one of two divisions of Pakistan Railways which operated between 1947 and 1971. The company was headquartered in Lahore. In 1971, Pakistan Western Railway renamed itself to Pakistan Railways.

Originally named the North-Western Railway, it was officially renamed as the Pakistan Western Railway in 1961, few decades after the independence of Pakistan. In East Bengal the same year, the portion of the Assam Bengal Railway in Pakistani territory was renamed the Pakistan Eastern Railway.

The Quetta–Taftan Line, also known as Spezand–Zaheden Railway Line (also referred to as Main Line 4 or ML-4) is one of four main railway lines in Pakistan, operated and maintained by Pakistan Railways. Inward from Pakistan's most western edge, it begins at Spezand Junction and has services that continue beyond Koh-e-Taftan station in high mountains, west. Its length is 732 km (455 mi) to the Iranian border, a few kilometres further west of that station. It has ten active stations, of which seven are in Pakistan and three are in Iran. Many or all primary services since 1940 (and 1922 to 1931) terminate on the natural continuation in eastern Iran at the high city of Zahedan, which sees a change of gauge (of track and rolling stock) for accessing the Trans-Iranian Railway. This section is difficult to maintain due to Nushki Desert and Mountain Ranges.

Jacobabad, (Urdu: جیکب آباد) formerly known as Khanger, is a city in Sindh, Pakistan, serving as both the capital city of Jacobabad District and the administrative centre of Jacobabad Taluka, an administrative subdivision of the district. The city itself is subdivided into eight Union Councils. Sitting far to the northwest of the province, near the provincial boundaries of Sindh and Balochistan, Jacobabad became a city on the site of an existing village (Khangarh), and is crossed by the Pakistan Railways and many main roads of the province. It is the 43rd most populous city in Pakistan.

The city is one of the hottest places on earth, with summer temperatures regularly rising to a mean temperature of 37 °C (99 °F). In particular, compounded by the humidity and climate change, Jacobabad has several times exceeded a wet-bulb temperature of 35 °C (95 °F), above which the human body cannot sufficiently cool itself. Jacobabad has been cited as one of the world's most vulnerable places to global warming, and one where the difference between 1.5 °C and 2 °C can be the difference between life and death.