Bhera Railway Station

Those who have been away from Bhera and have had little or no contacts with the town, will be saddened to know that the 100-year old train service between Bhera and Malakwal (started in 1881) has been discontinued since November 2006. The thrice-daily train service between Miani and Malakwal continues, while there are no train runs between Bhera and Miani. The 14-kilometer long railway tracks between Miani and Bhera are too old and deteriorated to support train services, leading to the "permanent" termination of the passenger and goods train services between Bhera and other towns and the closure of Bhera's railway station. The forlorn and derelict condition of the town's railway station reflects a history of long neglect and indifference of Bhera's leaders to persuade the railway authorities to consider replacing the worn-out rail tracks for the restoration of the service.

This crumbling, empty shed on the left is what remains of the once sturdy and spacious waiting hall for the passengers travelling third-class. Its benches have long since been gone. Another view of the abandoned waiting hall. The three ticket-windows opening into the waiting hall. In the pre-1947 era, the first window on the left opened in an enclosed area for ladies (mastooraats). The presence of the weighing machine outside the Parcel Godown Office seems more likely due to to its enormous weight for removal than to any plans for its future use by the railways The door of the Booking Office opened outside of the waiting hall and faced the entrance gate to the platform. The station master sold tickets from its windows after a train had arrived from Malakwal. The veranda (porch) outside the First and Second Class passenger waiting rooms. "ONLY PASSENGERS HOLDING Ist CLASS TICKETS ARE ALLOWED TO OCCUPY THIS ROOM." These gates of the Parcel Office veranda (porch) served as entrance to and exit from the platform. A ticket inspector used to be on duty by the left-side door to check arriving passengers' tickets. The Parcel Office and the waiting rooms for First Class and Second Class passeners are seen in this picture. Another view of the Gowdown Office and Storage Shed. The grassy portion of the long platfrom seems mowed and free of liter. This was most likely the wheel by which two signal-hands (chota-haath and bada-haath)were manually lowered and raised to allow the trains to enter or leave the platform Bhera's Railway Godown which handled incoming and outgoing goods shipped by train. When diesel locomotives replaced steam engines, the turntables meant for reversing the steam engines for trains' return journey from terminus stations became unnecessary, rendering circular turntables obsolete. While the obsolence of Bhera's engine-turntable was due to a technological shift, the abandonment of Bhera's railway station has been entirely due to the waning This is the deserted platform where generations of Bhervies used to receive arriving guests and from where Bhervies themsleves left for other towns to come back. This is the place where children of Bhera watched the magic of trains, were fascinated by the power of a uniformed railway guard to let a train start by waiving his green flag or blowing his wistle, and watched how one man made a railway steam enigne make a 180-degree turn single-handedly by pushing the circular turn-table. Another photo of the Engine Turnaround A semi-aerial view of the Turnaround Looking toward the Railway Station from the Engine Turnaround fortunes of a historic town.