Samjhauta Express resumes operations

With around 192 passengers on board-- including 122 Indians and 72 Pakistanis the train

LAHORE:

Nearly a week after Pakistan had to recall the Samjhauta Express back from the Wagah-Attari border, the cross-border train service finally resumed its operations on Thursday.

With around 192 passengers on board-- including 122 Indians and 72 Pakistanis – the blue coloured bogeys of the bilateral train pulled out of Lahore railway station at around 8.30am, after a delay of half-an-hour owing to security checks.

Pakistan had last week called the train from the border on a request from India owing to widespread protests by farmers in Indian Punjab. It meant that some 200 passengers, including Pakistanis and Indians, were stuck in Lahore. Some 35 Pakistani passengers wishing to return to Pakistan were stuck in New Delhi The situation was exacerbated when the next train, scheduled to depart on Monday, was also cancelled by Indian authorities.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah told reporters on Thursday that the bus service had resumed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2015.