The Hindu : Front Page : Big welcome awaits Thar Express today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 18, 2006

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Front Page

Big welcome awaits Thar Express today

Mohammed Iqbal

India, Pakistan reviving rail link across the western border after four long decades

MUNABAO (RAJASTHAN): The Munabao railway station in Barmer district is all set to welcome the Thar Express from Pakistan on Saturday, reviving the rail link between India and its western neighbour at the Rajasthan-Sindh border after four long decades. The new train from Karachi will pass Khokhrapar and cross the zero line to arrive at Munabao to a tumultuous welcome.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will inaugurate the new link refurbished in a yearlong exercise after an agreement reached with Pakistan as part of confidence building measures between the two countries. The rail link was snapped following extensive damage caused to the tracks during the 1965 war.

The once forlorn railway station, which is the last one on the Indian side located 135 km from Barmer in the vast stretch of the Thar desert, has come alive with preparations and groundwork to receive the trains from both sides. The inaugural Thar Express carrying 151 Indian passengers left Jodhpur on Friday night to reach Munabao on Saturday morning.

The Indian passengers will board the Pakistani train to continue their onward journey, while those from Pakistan will embark the Indian train to travel to Jodhpur after Immigration and Customs clearance. For this, the station has been spruced up with all facilities matching international standards.

Even as the Station Master, Deep Singh Bhati, says that the extent of passenger load would be known in the coming weeks, a large number of Immigration counters, Customs counters and a Money Exchange Bureau of the State Bank of India have come up at the two new platforms specially built for the weekly train. The platforms have been covered with fencing on both sides, while a parallel road has been constructed up to the zero line, 2.5 km away, to enable Border Security Force to keep a watch.

The Railway Protection Force and State police will take over the train's security after it reaches Munabao. The BSF has put up a huge entrance gate on the track, adjacent to its outpost near the international border, which would be opened to welcome the goodwill train that is set to strengthen the peace process between the once warring neighbours.

As of now, Pakistan will run the train across the zero line once every week for the first six months.

The operation will be taken over by Indian Railways in the next six months. Passengers from either side will get tickets for their next destination in India and Pakistan after their arrival on the foreign soil.

The rail link, restored after several rounds of talks between the two countries in the wake of demands from people on both sides of border, has brought new hope of economic prosperity in the border area. However, the people of nearby Akli village - the last on the Indian side of the border - feel that passengers should be provided with an opportunity to interact with the local populace.

In contrast to the gleaming Munabao station, preparations on the Pakistani side seem have been done in a hurried manner to meet the February 18 deadline. Pakistan Railway has established a "zero point" railway station, visible from the BSF outpost, to carry out the formalities of receiving Indian passengers without any discernible arrangements.

A view from the international border revealed that the zero point station comprises merely a green shed and some rooms. Border area residents pointed out that the platform's construction had started only recently, along with the laying of new tracks up to the zero line.

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