LAHORE: A train service between India and Pakistan, which had been suspended due to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, was finally restored on Monday evening after a four-day break, officials told Arab News.
The Samjhota Express reached the Lahore Railway Station on Monday evening with 12 passengers on board from Attari, India.
Earlier in the day, nearly 155 passengers who had been stranded at the railway station for the past four days, left for New Delhi from Lahore.
Set up in 1976 after the Simla agreement, the train service runs twice a week between Lahore and New Delhi on every Monday and Thursday morning and from New Delhi on every Saturday and Wednesday night.
It was suspended on February 28 following an escalation along the border which had brought the two South Asian nuclear neighbors on the verge of war, too.
On Monday, Pakistan announced that it would restore the service -- a move which was reciprocated by India, following which, the general manager for operation of North Indian Railways issued a letter to Pakistan Railways’ officials to restart the service.
Prior to the decision, Indian passengers who had been left stranded at the Lahore Railway Station said they were being taken care of by the railway authorities. With the restoration of the service, 155 passengers left for Attari, India, on Monday morning.
The same train returned to Lahore from Attari carrying 12 passengers.
“Only twelve passengers boarded the train from New Delhi on Sunday night because the passengers did not know that the service was being restored. The train took us to Attari in the morning. From there the train left for Wagah at 2pm,” Kamran Ahmad, a traveler, told Arab News.
Several other passengers urged the two governments not to suspend the train service in the future, pointing out that it was the cheapest means of meeting their families across the border.
“War is no solution to the problems. The two governments should sit on the table to find the solution of issues. Train service should continue as it is the source of getting together the families split in two countries,” Ameena Begum, a resident of Karachi coming from Merith (India), said.
Talking about the situation in India after escalation, Nadeem Shams, another passenger told Arab News that the behavior of the masses had been very hostile towards Pakistan but all of that changed for the better following Prime Minister Imran Khan's peace gesture to release a captured Indian pilot.
“The attitude of the people was aggressive as the leaders were talking about war. The atmosphere became normalized after the release of pilot,” he said.
