|
Travel
Sites |
Munabao-Khokhrapar train from Feb 18
New Delhi: The railway service between Munabao in western Rajasthan and Khokhrapar in Pakistan's Sindh province will start from February 18. It was decided after two days of talks between senior officials of India and Pakistan in Islamabad.
The Pakistan delegation was led by Mushtaq Khan Jadoon, Additional General Manager (Passengers), Pakistan Railways, Government of Pakistan, while Ashok Gupta, Adviser, Traffic, Ministry of Railways, led the Indian delegation. The two sides signed the agreement on the establishment of the Zero Point Railway Station and also agreed to various technical modalities for the running of the Munabao-Khokhrapar 'Thar Express', which will run every Saturday and return the same day. This is the third date that has been finalised for the resumption of the Munabao-Khokhrapar train. Earlier, the Thar Express was scheduled to be launched in early January which was later postponed for February 1. At the Munabao Railway Station, which is 2.5 kilometres from the Zero Point, preparations have been completed and the gleaming station is all set to welcome the first batch of passengers after a gap of 41 years. In the first month when the Munabao-Khokhrapar rail service begins, the North Western Railway is expecting about 50 to 60 percent reservations in the six-coach train which ill be covering a distance of about 11.5 kilometres between Munabao and Khokhrapar. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the cross- border train, as it would be heavily guarded and personnel of Railway Police Force (RPF) would also board it till the Zero Point. Roads on both sides of the track from Munabao to the border have also been constructed for Border Security Force (BSF) jeeps to accompany the train from Munabao to the border to prevent smuggling or attacks en route. Besides, security posts have been built around the station, and floodlights and three-metre high fences have also been erected parallel to the tracks. The Munabao railway station with world class facilities, can handle about 500 passengers from either side simultaneously. The station has 10 counters for customs check and six for immigration check. Besides, bank, money exchange and separate toilet facilities for ladies, gents and physically challenged passengers are also there. All these facilities in addition to two waiting halls of size 45x11.7 metres with TV and music systems, provision for food plaza, VIP langue will be available on the platform number two.
Tickets,
which will be given manually in the initial period, will be available
only at Jodhpur. Interestingly, two tickets will be given for the journey
from Jodhpur to Mirpur Khas in Pakistan. The first ticket will be from
Jodhpur to the Zero Point and the second from the Zero Point till the
train's last destination. The rail link between the two countries was
stopped when Pakistani fighter jets bombed the tracks that linked the
two countries during the1965 war. Prior to that, the train on this route
used to be between Karachi to Mumbai via Munabao. However, during the
war of 1971 between Indian and Pakistan, there was a temporary link-up
to facilitate the movement of the armed forces. But as a part of the confidence
building measures between the two sides, both the governments decided
last year to restore the link for passenger service.
-Jan
31, 2006
Tourist
offices
in India
|
Window
on India |
|
News
Links |