Samjhauta Express

2021-12-30T08:58:10Z

2402:3A80:B74:94C3:360D:67BF:6D64:CA4C:

{{italic title}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox rail service
| box_width = 24em
| name = ''Samjhauta Express''
| logo =
| logo_width =
| image = Samjautha Express.JPG
| image_width = 250px
| caption = Pakistani rake of the Samjhauta Express
| type = [[Inter-city rail]]
| status =
| locale =
| predecessor =
| first = {{start date and age|1976|07|22}}
| last = {{end date and age|2019|08|08}}
| successor =
| operator = [[Northern Railway zone]] <br> of [[Indian Railways]] <br> & [[Pakistan Railways]]
| formeroperator=
| ridership =
| start = {{stnlnk|Old Delhi}}
| stops = {{stnlnk|Atari Shyam Singh}} and {{stnlnk|Wagah}}
| end = {{stnlnk|Lahore Junction}}
| distance = {{convert|502|km|mi}}
| journeytime = 11 hours, 42 minutes
| frequency = Bi-weekly
| trainnumber =
| class =
| access =
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| autorack =
| catering =
| observation =
| entertainment =
| baggage =
| otherfacilities =
| stock =
| gauge = {{track gauge|1676mm|lk=on}}
| el =
| speed =
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| routenumber =
| map = {{Samjhauta Express}}
| map_state = collapsed
}}
[[File:Lahore Railway Station 12.jpg|thumb|right|Lahore Central Station, the Pakistani terminus of the train]]
[[File:Amritsar Railway Station.jpg|thumb|right|Amritsar railway station, one of the stations of the train in India]]
[[File:Old Delhi Railway Station.jpg|thumb|right|Delhi Jn station, the terminus in India]]
The '''Samjhauta Express''' (Urdu: سمجھوتہ ایکسپریس) (sindhi: ايڪسپريس سمجهاتا) (Hindi : समझौता एक्सप्रेस)({{trans|Friendship Express}}) is a bi-weekly train — Thursday and Monday — that runs between [[Delhi]] and [[Attari]] in India and [[Lahore]] in Pakistan. The word ''Samjhauta'' means "agreement", "accord" and "compromise" in both [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]].

Until the reopening of the [[Thar Express]], this was the only rail connection between the two countries. The train was started on 22 July 1976 following the [[Simla Agreement]] and ran between [[Amritsar]] and [[Lahore]], a distance of about 502 km. Following disturbances in Punjab in the late eighties, due to security reasons [[Indian Railways]] decided to terminate the service at Attari, where customs and immigration clearances take place. On 14 April 2000, in an agreement between [[Indian Railways]] and [[Pakistan Railways]] (PR), the distance was revised to cover just under three km.

==History==
An earlier train ran between [[Amritsar]] and [[Lahore]] and vice versa and carried 8,239 persons from India to Pakistan and 10,360 from Pakistan to India from 28 October 1954 to 30 November 1954.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lok Sabha Debates |url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55845/1/lsd_01_08_15-12-1954.pdf |website=Parliament Digital Library |publisher=[[Lok Sabha Secretariat]] |date=15 December 1954}}</ref>

Samjhauta Express was a daily train when the service started in 1976 and changed to a bi-weekly schedule in 1994. Earlier the [[Rake (train)|rake]]s were returned to the home country the same day but later in 2000 the rake remained overnight at that location.

The train's first break of service was when it was discontinued on 1 January 2002 in the wake of the [[2001 Indian Parliament attack|terrorist attack]] on the [[Indian Parliament]] on 13 December 2001. Service resumed on 15 January 2004. Service was also suspended following the 27 December 2007, [[assassination of Benazir Bhutto]] as a preventive measure to deny militants a "high-value target" that was of great symbolic importance to both India and Pakistan.<ref>[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071229/jsp/frontpage/story_8722192.jsp The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | India waits, steps up Pak vigil]</ref>

On 8 October 2012, police recovered about 100 kg of contraband heroin and more than 500 rounds of bullet ammunition at Wagah border on the train heading for Delhi.<ref>[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rs-505-crore-heroin-drug-seized-from-india-bound-samjhauta-express/1/223933.html Rs.505 crore drug bust from India-bound Samjhauta Express] Vikas Kahol, Mail Today, Chandigarh, 8 October 2012, indiatoday.intoday.in</ref><ref>[http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/CHD-heroine-worth-rs-505-crore-ammunitions-seized-from-samjhauta-express-3895928-NOR.html Heroine worth R 505 crore, ammunition seized from Samjhauta Express], Chandigarh, 8 October 2012, Dailybhaskar.com</ref>

On 28 February 2019, the service was suspended following the [[2019 India–Pakistan standoff]]. A spokesman for the [[Pakistan Foreign Office]] said that service was suspended "in view of the prevailing tensions between Pakistan and India" while it was reported that India has suspended the running of the train on its side, due to "drastic decline in occupancy" and "the suspension of services from across the border".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Naveed |title=Samjhota Express operations suspended: FO |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1466662 |access-date=28 February 2019 |work=Dawn |date=28 February 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=India cancels Samjhauta Express operations on its end, lack of occupancy behind decision |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-cancels-samjhauta-express-operations-on-its-end-lack-of-occupancy-behind-decision/articleshow/68204088.cms |access-date=28 February 2019 |work=The Times of India |date=28 February 2019}}</ref>

On 8 August 2019, the service was suspended by Pakistan following the [[Indian revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status|revocation of Article 370 in Jammu And Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Pakistan suspends Samjhauta Express, train stranded at Wagah |url=https://zeenews.india.com/india/pakistan-suspends-samjhauta-express-train-stranded-at-wagah-2225838.html |access-date=8 August 2019 |work=Zee News |date=8 August 2019}}</ref>

==Route==

Its termini are [[Lahore]] in Pakistan and [[Delhi]] in India. The border crossing takes place between [[Wagah]] in Pakistan and [[Attari]] in India. Originally, this was a through service with the same [[Rake (train)|rake]] going all the way between the termini; later the Pakistani rake stopped at Attari at which point passengers had to change trains.

Now there is a train from Delhi to Attari where all passengers alight for customs and immigration. This train does not have any commercial stops between Delhi and Attari. It is incorrectly referred to as the Samjhauta Express and it is officially known as the Delhi–Attari or Attari–Delhi Express. The actual Samjhauta Express runs from Attari to Lahore, although the passengers are checked at Wagah, the first station on the Pakistani side. The train service was set up with an agreement between [[Indian Railways]] (IR) and [[Pakistan Railways]] (PR) to alternately use an Indian and a Pakistani rake and locomotive for the train, six months at a time.

The train usually has between four and eight coaches. The rake supplied by Pakistan is usually hauled by an Alco DL-543 class ALU20 diesel loco (Lahore shed), with the entire train in the standard dark green livery of PR.

==Incidents==
===2007 bombing===
{{main|2007 Samjhauta Express bombings}}
In the early hours of 18 February 2007, 70 people (mostly Pakistani civilians and a few Indian military guarding the train) were killed and scores more injured in a terrorist attack on the Delhi–Attari Express.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1931712,0008.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221045956/http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1931712%2C0008.htm |archive-date=21 February 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>[http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=355083&sid=NAT Zee News - Passengers recount horror on blast-hit train]</ref> The attack occurred at [[Diwana railway station|Diwana station]] near the Indian city of [[Panipat]], [[Haryana]]. Officials found evidence of improvised explosive devices ([[Improvised explosive device|IED]]s, ([[RDX]]) containing [[fragmentation (weaponry)|fragmentation ]] and flammable material, including three unexploded IEDs. The [[National Investigation Agency]] suspected that the blasts were masterminded by [[Swami Aseemanand]], which was dismissed later for lack of evidence.<ref name="hindustantimes1">{{cite web |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Direct-hand-of-Aseemanand-in-Samjhauta-blasts-NIA/Article1-644360.aspx |title=Direct hand of Aseemanand in Samjhauta blasts: NIA |work=Hindustan Times|date=2010-12-30 |access-date=2012-02-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122132921/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Direct-hand-of-Aseemanand-in-Samjhauta-blasts-NIA/Article1-644360.aspx |archive-date=22 January 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

On 1 July 2009, the US Department of Treasury designated Arif Qasmani of the Lashkar-e Tayyiba as a person involved in terrorism, citing among other things his involvement in the Samjhauta Express bombing.<ref>Arif Qasmani is the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e Tayyiba's (LET) dealings with outside organizations and has provided significant support for LET terrorist operations. Qasmani has worked with LET to facilitate terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. {{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg192.aspx|title=Treasury Targets Al Qaida and Lashkar-E Tayyiba Networks in Pakistan |publisher=Treasury.gov |access-date=2012-02-05}}</ref>

On 30 December 2010, India's [[National Investigation Agency]] claimed that they had solid evidence that [[Swami Aseemanand]] was the mastermind behind the blasts. He had taken help from his friend Sandeep Dange, an engineering graduate
and has done higher study in physics, and Ramji Kalsangra, an electrician, to build the improvised explosive devices used in the blasts.<ref name="hindustantimes1"/> On 8 January 2011, Aseemanand allegedly confessed the bombing of Samjhauta express,<ref>{{cite news|title=Aseemanand owns up to strike on Mecca Masjid|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-08/india/28376204_1_aseemanand-naba-kumar-sarkar-bomb-for-bomb-plan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928172014/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-08/india/28376204_1_aseemanand-naba-kumar-sarkar-bomb-for-bomb-plan|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2011|access-date=8 January 2011|date=8 January 2011|author=Vishwa Mohan |newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|author2=Abantika Ghosh}}</ref> a statement later found to be obtained under duress.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110928114219/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-10/india/28378569_1_nia-court-samjhauta-express-blasts-blasts-case Swami Aseemanand 'confessed' under duress] ''Times of India'' – 10 January 2011</ref> Later the Hindu nationalist group RSS ([[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]]) sent a legal notice to CBI ([[Central Bureau of Investigation]]) accusing it of deliberately leaking Swami Aseemanand's confession in the media. RSS spokesman Ram Madhav called the investigation maligning of organizations and individuals.<ref>{{cite news|last=Iyer|first=Shekhar|title=Indresh lawyers issue notice to CBI for statement 'leak'|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/Indresh-lawyers-issue-notice-to-CBI-for-statement-leak/Article1-647916.aspx|access-date=8 January 2011|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=8 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020130948/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/Indresh-lawyers-issue-notice-to-CBI-for-statement-leak/Article1-647916.aspx|archive-date=20 October 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

According to various local newspapers, NIA arrested Kamal Chauhan, who is deemed by the NIA as the main operative, in February 2012.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |title=India–Pakistan rail link reopens |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4726558.stm |website=BBC |date=18 February 2006}}

{{India–Pakistan relations}}
{{International trains from India}}
{{Named passenger trains of Pakistan}}
{{Railways in Northern India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samjhauta Express}}
[[Category:Transport in Lahore]]
[[Category:Transport in Delhi]]
[[Category:Named passenger trains of Pakistan]]
[[Category:International named passenger trains]]
[[Category:Named passenger trains of India]]
[[Category:Transport in Amritsar]]
[[Category:India–Pakistan relations]]
[[Category:Indira Gandhi administration]]
[[Category:Government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]
[[Category:Railway services introduced in 1976]]

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Samjhauta Express