The operation of Samjhauta Express has been suspended temporarily in view of the prevailing tensions between Pakistan and India. In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson said Samjhauta Express will resume its operations as soon as the security situation improves between the two countries.
The bi-weekly Samjhauta Express, which runs on Wednesday and Sunday, was as per schedule from the Old Delhi Railway station with 27 passengers aboard -- four in AC coach, 23 in non-AC coaches.
The train running from Delhi to Attari in India left at 11:20 pm Wednesday and reached Attari station at 6.45 am next day. "There are three Pakistanis and 24 Indian nationals aboard the train," Northern Railway said. From Lahore, the train departs on Monday and Thursday.
The Samjhauta Express, named after the Hindi word for "agreement", comprises six sleeper coaches and an AC 3-tier coach. The train service was started on July 22, 1976 under the Shimla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations.
Sources said the footfall on the train, which generally records occupancy of around 70 per cent, fell drastically after the Pulwama attack on February 14 in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. The goods train service which operates between Attari and Wagah also remains suspended for past four days now.
Until the reopening of the Thar Express, this was the only rail connection between the two countries. The train ran between Amritsar and Lahore, a distance of about 42 km. Following disturbances in Punjab in the late eighties, due to security reasons Indian Railways decided to terminate the service at Attari, where customs and immigration clearances take place. On 14 April 2000, in an agreement between Indian Railways and Pakistan Railways (PR), the distance was revised to cover just under three km.
It was a daily train when the service started, and changed to a bi-weekly schedule in 1994. Earlier the rakes were returned to the home country the same day but later in 2000 the rake remained overnight at that location.
After suspension of Samjhauta Express by Pakistan, clouds of suspicion have been looming large on the fate of the Thar Express, which plies between Jodhpur and Munabao in Barmer, the last station of India and connects finally with Karachi in Pakistan through Khokhrapar, the first station in Pakistan. India has extended an agreement with Pakistan linking the two countries through the Munabao- Khokhrapar rail line, in January 2018. The agreement to link the two countries by rail was signed in 2006 to facilitate people-to-people contact, officials said. The agreement was set to expire in March 2018, but has now been extended to 31 January 2021. The Thar Express links Jodhpur and Karachi via the Munabao-Khokhrapar border crossing and carries only passengers. The Munabao-Khokhrapar link was destroyed during the 1965 war between the two countries. The service was revived after 41 years in February 2006.