Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday announced that it is permanently discontinuing the Samjhauta Express train service with India following New Delhi’s revocation of special status for Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was announced by Pakistan’s Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed at a press conference.
He said that the bogies of the Samjhauta Express will now be used for passengers travelling on the occasion of Eid. “This will increase the capacity of Eid trains and more people will be able to travel in them.” People who have bought tickets for the Samjhauta Express will be reimbursed. “You can collect the payment from Lahore’s divisional superintendent office,” said the Minister. “We don’t want war but we can’t sit quietly over Indian atrocities in Kashmir… Srinagar is not Jerusalem,” he added.
The train service was suspended earlier this year after military tensions escalated between the two neighbours following the Pulwama attack and Balakot strike.
‘No formal communication by Pak over discontinuing Samjhauta Express’
After Pakistan announced it was “permanently discontinuing” the Samjhauta Express, the Indian Railways on Thursday said that Islamabad has not given any formal information about the scrapping of the cross-border train and that it has been stopped at the Wagah border in Pakistan.
Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar told IANS, “We have not received any formal communication regarding the suspension of the train services. However, we are sending our own engine with our crew guard to bring train from Wagah (in Pakistan) to Attari.”
The Northern Railway official said Pakistani authorities have raised some concerns with regard to the security of their crew members on the Samjhuata Express and the Indian Railway officials have told them that the situation is normal on the Indian side. He said the Indian Railways is sending its own crew members to Wagah to bring the train back into India. Kumar said there are about 110 passengers coming to India from Pakistan on the train, while around 70 passengers are waiting to go to Pakistan. The bi-weekly train runs between both countries on Mondays and Thursdays. It links Lahore with Attari in India’s Punjab.
