Pakistan, India Sign Rail Link Agreement

Pakistan, India sign rail link agreement

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) — Pakistan and India on Tuesday signed agreement for the launching of a second train service on Feb. 18, according to a joint statement issued at the end of a two- day talks here in Islamabad.

The new train service will link Pakistan’s Khokhrapar in the southern Sindh province with Munabao in the Indian Rajhestan.

The Khokhrapar-Munabao train service was closed due to the Pakistan-India war in 1965, which was the first in three wars since their independence from the British colonial rule in 1947.

“The Thar Express will run every Saturday and return the same day. The first train with the Pakistani rake will start on Feb. 18, 2006,” said the joint statement.

“The two sides signed the relevant agreement and also agreed to various technical modalities for the running of the Thar Express,” it said.

“The talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere,” it said.

The railway delegations of Pakistan and India held two days of talks to finalize the agreement for the operation of the rail link.

The Pakistan delegation was led by Mushtaq Khan Jadoon, additional general manager (Passengers) at the Pakistan Railways, while the Indian delegation was led by Ashok Gupta, traffic advisor at the Indian ministry of railways.

For the first six months, the Pakistan train would cross into India to Munabao in the Rajhestan state, according to Jadoon. Then the Indian train will cross into Pakistan to the Zero Point railway station near Khokhrapar in Sindh.

He said that there would be no limit for the passengers and the number of passengers is likely to be 900 to 1,000.

The authorities have made arrangements of clean water, electricity, gas and telephone line for the passengers at the railway station.