Pakistan's (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri.

Pakistan Railways is the state-owned railway operator in Pakistan. Founded in 1861 as the North Western State Railway and headquartered in Lahore, it owns 7,789 kilometres of operational track across Pakistan, stretching from Peshawar to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger services, covering 479 operational stations across Pakistan.

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. 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 1880. Following the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the North Western Railway became Pakistan Western Railway and the rail system was reorganised in the dominion of Pakistan; some of the reorganisation was controversial. Rail use increased in early 1948, and the network became profitable. Declining passenger numbers and financial losses in the late 1980s and early 1990s prompted the closure of many branch lines and small stations. The 1990s saw corporate mismanagement and severe cuts in rail subsidies. Due to falling passenger numbers, government subsidies are necessary to keep the railways financially viable.

Karachi is the capital city of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the largest city in Pakistan and 12th largest in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast and formerly served as the country's capital from 1947 to 1959. Ranked as a beta-global city, it is Pakistan's premier industrial and financial centre, with an estimated GDP of over $200 billion (PPP) as of 2021. Karachi is a metropolitan city and is considered Pakistan's most cosmopolitan city, and among the country's most linguistically, ethnically, and religiously diverse regions, as well as one of the country's most progressive and socially liberal cities.