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Sunday May 05, 2024

11 bogies of Samjhauta Express rust in Pakistan, thanks to Indian obduracy

Pakistan had asked India to bring its locomotive and withdraw its bogies from the Wagah railway station

By Khalid Mehmood Khalid
March 18, 2024
This screengrab taken from a video released on March 15, 2024, shows the Samjhauta Express a train that runs between Pakistan and India. — Facebook/Amin Hafeez
This screengrab taken from a video released on March 15, 2024, shows the Samjhauta Express a train that runs between Pakistan and India. — Facebook/Amin Hafeez

LAHORE: It has been more than five years since the Samjhauta Express, a train running between Pakistan and India, was closed, but the last train has not yet reached India and eleven coaches of the train are still standing at the Wagah railway station in the Pakistani territory.

Wagah Railway Station manager Muhammad Azhar said on August 5, 2019, when India illegally changed the status of occupied Kashmir, Pakistan immediately shut down the Samjhauta Express.

At that time, eleven coaches of the Indian train were present in Lahore and 16 coaches of Pakistani train remained in India, which are still at the Attari railway station.

Pakistan had asked India to bring its locomotive and withdraw its bogies from the Wagah railway station.

According to the railway agreement with India, it was decided that for six months from July to December, the train with Indian bogies will come to Pakistan and the engine will be from Pakistan, while for the remaining six months from January to June, there will be Pakistani bogies. But when the train service was suspended, Indian bogies were in Pakistan.

Pakistan has sent a message to India several times that these bogies will be pushed to Indian territory and India should take back the bogies with its engine.

But India is stubborn that according to the agreement, Pakistan will return the bogies to India with Pakistani engine.

Currently, Indian bogies are standing at the Wagah railway station and are getting damaged, but due to India’s stubbornness, they cannot be returned.