Train Portraits: Pakistan - Sam Phelps | Photographer

Train travel since it's inception has offered the voyager an often romanticised and contemplative experience of getting from A to B. The subjects, their responses and gazes out the window of a moving landscape reflect their own lives moving forward and perhaps the inevitability of our own mortality. The first of this ongoing series is on the Khyber Mail, traveling from Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northern Pakistan which acted as a stopping point on the ancient Silk Road.The Khyber Mail travels south through Punjab province, the bread basket of Pakistan and terminates in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city at the southern tip of Sindh province on the Arabian Sea after 35 hours travel.

Porter Ghulam Farid, 60 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Karachi to Peshawar on August 19, 2011. He has six daughters. He has worked as a porter in Multan for the last forty years. "Corruption is a big problem in Pakistan. I don't believe that the governent can help us. .

Syed Farid Haider, 70 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Karachi to Peshawar on August 19, 2011. From Khan Pur, he has a child.

Quran Teacher Muhammad Ali Johari, 22 years old with his son Murtaza sit on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. His family is from Skardu, Baltistan Chunda region of Pakistan. He is traveling to Karachi with his five children and mother who had visited the family in the northern areas and are now returning home. " This country is like the train system, it is inifficient and poorly managed.

Canteen Boy Usman, 17 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Karachi to Peshawar on August 19, 2011. He works in the canteen at the station in Multan. He has 8 siblings.

Sufi Beggar Joman, 80 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He is from Nowabshah, Sindh Province. He has two wives and twelve children. He has been a beggar for life.

Arif Ahmed Qandri, 59 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He has worked for Pakistan Rail for the last 25 years. He is traveling from Khanpur to Karachi. He has three daughters and one son. He works fifteen days and then has fifteen days rest. "Hopefully Pakistan will improve.".

Job Seeker Muhammad Ali, 24 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Karachi to Peshawar on August 19, 2011. He is traveling from Multan to his hometown Sahiwal. Muhammad's father died recently at the age of 45 of a heart attack. Muhammad, now the eldest of eight other siblings is searching for work to support his family. "I am the eldest child. Sometimes I borrow money from relatives and do odd jobs for a little money. I was working in a shop but was only paid 2000PKR ($25USD) a month.

Air conditioner operator Abdul Manoof, 57 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. he has worked as an air condition operator for Pakistan Rail for the past thirty eight years. He lives in Peshawar with his four children and will work till he is sixty. "Pakistan will hopefully be OK"

Ali Hussan Bloch, twenty years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He is from Rohri, Sindh Province. He has two children and has been working on the Pakistan Rail trains for eight years selling tinned cakes, a specialty from Multan.

Mairaj Hassam, 7 years old, Siraj Hassam, 3 years old, Murraza Hassam, 18 months old, Shabbir Hassam, 10 years old,Tatheer Fatima, 4 years old sit on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. They are from Skardu, Baltistan Chunda region of Pakistan and traveling with their father.

Poultry Farmer Sadiq Hussain, 50 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He is traveling home to Sahiwah after visiting a friend. He has four children, two sons and two daughters. His leg was cut off at the knee in 1999 because of cancer. "The government cannot help us, we are poor people and have always been poor people. Nobody can help us."

Pilgrim Habibal Wahab, 75 years old is traveling from Peshawar to Karachi on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He flying frm Karachi to Mecca, Saudi Arabia for Umra during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. His family originates from Mardan, in the Swabi District near Peshawar. He has six children, one of who is in the army in Multan. He has lived in Karachi for the last 33 years. "I hope things improve in Pakistan. The prices keep going up, life becomes more expensive."

Beverage Merchant Mohammad Riaz, 48 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He is from Lodhran, Punjab Province. He has worked on the trains for thirty years. He has five children. "My whole life I have been poor. During the thirty six hour journey between Lahore and Karachi I will earn 100 PKR ( 1.20 USD). I work on commission basis, if I sell 36 juice packs, I will receive 90 rupees."

Porters Porter Muhammad Lodara, 70 years old, Muhammad Zamir Hussain, 18 years old and Porter Munir Ahmed, 26 years old sit on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011.

Haji Ghulam Abbas, seventy years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He is traveling from Dare Ghazi Khan to Hyderabad and has been working as a beggar in the train station all his life.

Kitchen Hand Mohammad Bashir Ahmed, 38 years old sits on the Khyber Mail traveling from Rawalpindi to Karachi on August 13, 2011. He has worked for Pakistan Rail for 17 years. He has no children.

SAM PHELPS