At Over 130 Years Old, a Pre-Partition Railway Station Linking Jammu With Sialkot Lies in Ruins

“Yeh daagh daagh ujaala, yeh shab-gazeeda seher; Woh intezaar tha jiska, yeh woh seher to nahin (This stained light, this night-bitten dawn, This is not the dawn we yearned for)” – these verses of Faiz Ahmed Faiz echoed in my mind as I stood before a 134-year-old, pre-partition railway station at Ranbir Singh Pura, just 30 kilometres from Jammu city. It was once a bustling link between Jammu and Sialkot, but now lies in a state of neglect and decay, standing as a silent witness to the painful memories of 1947.

Standing there, I couldn’t help but recall the partition stories my grandparents often narrated. The stories echoed the pain and longing that has been passed down generations – pain that my grandparents carried with them as they spoke of the journey from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to refugee camps in Jammu, leaving behind not just a home, but a way of life that was never to be reclaimed.

I had arrived in Ranbir Singh Pura with the intention of covering the 2024 J&K assembly elections. But what I uncovered instead was a relic of history that had almost faded into obscurity – the town’s railway station. Looking at the sight of the once-vibrant station now lying in shambles felt like coming face-to-face with a lost chapter of our past – a past I had only known through the stories of my grandfather.

The railway line that linked Jammu with Sialkot was built in 1890, serving as a vital corridor for trade, travel and cultural exchange between the two regions.

Back then, the train journey from Sialkot to Jammu Tawi would take around 90 minutes, with stops at five intermediate stations: Sialkot Cantonment, Suchetgarh, Ranbir Singh Pura, Miran Sahib and finally, Jammu Cantonment. The border of J&K was only a stone’s throw away from Suchetgarh, making Ranbir Singh Pura the first station on J&K’s side.

Today, the old station at Bikram Chowk in Jammu – the terminus of this historic line – has been reduced to a faint memory. It was demolished to construct the Kala Kendra, a cultural centre intended to promote art. But in doing so, we lost a piece of art itself – a living heritage that could have narrated countless untold stories of people who once travelled this route, of families torn apart and reunited, and of a shared history that was abruptly severed by the harsh lines drawn in 1947.

Yet, scattered across the landscape, one can still find remnants – rusting railway sheds and forgotten tracks weaving through the lush green fields, where the sound of the train’s whistle has long been replaced by the hum of agricultural activity.

A few bridges along the old track, such as one near Miran Sahib by the NITS polytechnic college and others scattered between Jammu and Ranbir Singh Pura, remain silent witnesses to what was once the region’s oldest railway service. Unmanned railway crossings could still be found in places like Nai Basti near Satwari along the Ranbir canal until not so long ago, but now, they too have disappeared.

Today, part of the old station at Bikram Chowk is used as a parking lot and workshop for J&K road transport corporation buses. While most of the station has vanished, a few remnants still stand at the site, whispering echoes of a bygone era.

The Ranbir Singh Pura station is now the last surviving remnant of this once-thriving link between Jammu and Sialkot. The shambles of the railway station are not just the ruins of a forgotten architectural landmark; they are the ruins of a shared heritage and the crumbling of countless stories that travelled back and forth between Jammu and Sialkot.

Levers used to change tracks at the Ranbir Singh Pura railway station. Photo: Kanwal Singh.

There are no trains that stop here anymore nor passengers waiting eagerly on the platform. The levers that were once utilised to switch the tracks are still present, but they are now in a state of disrepair.

The train route once travelled through the vibrant rice fields of Ranbir Singh Pura, which is known for its rice fields — the superior-quality basmati rice grown here has earned it a geographical indication tag bearing the area’s name.

Yet, even with this recognition, the farmers of Ranbir Singh Pura struggle to sustain their livelihoods, caught between a competitive market and the lack of government support. The sight of the abandoned station, juxtaposed against the farmers’ struggles, is a poignant reminder of how heritage and livelihood, both once intertwined, now find themselves endangered.

From glory to ruin: The historical significance of the railway station

The Ranbir Singh Pura railway station was part of a 43-kilometre-long broad gauge branch constructed in 1890, connecting the Wazirabad junction in Punjab to Jammu via the Sialkot junction. The railway line between Sialkot and Jammu, built during Dogra ruler Pratap Singh’s reign, marked the first railway connection in the state of J&K, creating progress and connectivity for the region.

However, this lifeline came to a halt in September 1947, when services between India and Pakistan were suspended, leaving the railway line to succumb to neglect and decay.

The railway line was an extension of the Wazirabad-Sialkot line. By the 1940s it boasted four pairs of passenger trains running between Sialkot and Jammu Tawi.

Pratap Singh introduced the Jammu-Sialkot railway network aiming to link the city and the state with Lahore, which was then the capital of Punjab. He is also said to have initiated surveys to explore the possibility of extending the railway from Jammu to Srinagar. Today’s Jammu-Udhampur-Kashmir railway line follows a similar route.

There was no direct road link connecting Jammu to Pathankot, Amritsar or Jalandhar back then — let alone to Delhi, according to an octogenarian cited by Daily Excelsior newspaper, who added that the only feasible route was by train, which ran from Jammu to Lahore and then on to Amritsar, Delhi and other parts of the country.

My grandfather, S. Anoop Singh, once boarded a train on this very route to visit the University of the Punjab to sit for his exams. He often shared stories of how this train served as a vital link between the regions, bridging the cultures and economies between Punjab and J&K. It was more than just a mode of transport; it symbolised a shared heritage and interconnected way of life.

As time passed, the Ranbir Singh Pura railway station and others like it fell into disrepair. The once-bustling station buildings became abandoned, lost in time. Meanwhile, the Indian railways established a new route from Pathankot to Jammu, but the charm and nostalgia of the old railway line remain irreplaceable.

The rice fields of Ranbir Singh Pura. Photo: Kanwal Singh.

Efforts to revive the region’s heritage

Although then-divisional commissioner of Jammu, Raghav Langer, visited the Ranbir Singh Pura station as part of an exercise to review places being developed as tourist sites in Jammu, the station has seen little by way of progress.

Langer also visited the old station in Jammu’s Bikram Chowk and issued directions to begin restoration work at the station with the aim of turning it into a heritage site and attracting tourists to the ‘city of temples’.

The Jammu Smart City Limited was asked to make a project report for the station’s renovation and officials were even asked to study historical photographs to that end.

However, the plan to restore the railway station was “shelved” in early 2022, as per Daily Excelsior.

There were also plans to run a ‘heritage train’ between the old Bikram Chowk railway station in Jammu and Suchetgarh via the Ranbir Singh Pura station, but there has been no news of this initiative since it was announced in February 2021, and the Ranbir Singh Pura station continues to suffer neglect.

With the government’s lacklustre approach and the growing disconnect with preserving our heritage sites, the question looms – how will they restore this old railway link that once united Jammu and Sialkot? For now, the memories of the train that once bridged two regions and cultures linger on, while the promise of revitalising this heritage remains unfulfilled, trapped in the pages of history.

While the Ranbir Singh Pura station remains a testament to our shared history, the recent introduction of the beating retreat ceremony at the Suchetgarh Octroi post, reminiscent of the iconic Wagah border, brings a glimmer of hope.

This vibrant ceremony, with its display of patriotism and cultural pride, is poised to invigorate tourism in a region long overshadowed by neglect. As the flags flutter and the drumbeats resonate, they remind us of the connections forged through our past and the potential for unity and celebration in our present.

Much like the Ranbir Singh Pura railway station, numerous heritage sites in the Jammu region, such as the Mubarak Mandi complex, have faded into obscurity over time. This serves as a reminder of the importance of honouring our heritage while looking toward the future, ensuring that the narratives of resilience and belonging are preserved and celebrated as integral to our shared identity.

Kanwal Singh is a policy analyst from J&K.