Samjhauta Express

The Samjhauta Express is a train that runs between India and Pakistan. The literal meaning of term 'Samjhauta' is 'compromise'. As the name suggests, the train is a mark of understanding between the two countries of the world. Samjhauta Express is one amongst the two trains that connect India with Pakistan, the other being Thar Express. The Samjhauta Express is also called as Friendship Express. It runs twice a week, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Samjhauta Express moves from Delhi on line for Attari, then rushes to Wagah and Lahore in Pakistan. In anticipation of Thar Express, Samjhauta Express had been the only rail connection linking the two countries. On 22 July 1976, the train embarked its first journey from Amritsar to Lahore (42 kms) after the Shimla Agreement. Subsequently, Punjab saw some disturbances in the late 80's owing to security reasons.

As a result of this, Indian Railways planned to terminate the service at Attari to deal with the customs and immigration clearances. In 2000, the agreement between Indian Railways and Pakistan Railways was modified to cover the distance under three kms. Initially, the train had a daily service but it was refreshed to a bi-weekly service in 1994. The rakes used to come back to the home country on the same day until 2000. Now, the rake spends overnight at the destination.

Lahore (Pakistan) and Delhi (India) serve as the terminus of Samjhauta Express. The border crossing and immigration formalities take place at Wagah (Pakistan) and Attari (India). In the beginning, Samjhauta Express had a thorough service along with the same rake moving all the way between the terminuses, soon after the Pakistani rake was required to bung at Attari, where passengers need to change the trains.