Like derailed Indo-Pak talks, Train to Pakistan is showing less and less signs of returning on track. According to reports, portions of the rail track on which the Samjhauta Express (from Attari to Lahore) used to run on the Pakistani side have been dismantled.
Showing the involvement of the Pakistani army, the track has reportedly been diverted from Harbanspura, about 10 km from Wagah, and now leads to the cantonment area on the other side of the border. Though intact tracks are visible up to 75 yards from the zero line at Wagah border, the tracks thereon have reportedly been dismantled on the instructions of the army by Pakistani railway workers.
The dismantling apparently began almost immediately after the suspension of Samjhauta. India decided to stop the train from January 1, 2002, as a diplomatic protest against Pakistan's support to cross-border terrorism, the immediate provocation being the December 13, 2001, attack on Parliament.
With the Samjhauta track diverted to cantonment area, goods trains have reportedly been plying on it and bringing ammunition to near the border. Any probability of reintroduction of Samjhauta thus seems far.
Meanwhile, the Attari railway station on this side of the border bears a completely deserted look, with a few goods bogies standing here for the past many months. The freight traffic between the two countries, transporting sugar and other perishable commodities to Lahore, about 20 km from Attari, also came to a halt about a year ago.
Introduced on July 22, 1976, Samjhauta
provided a short and cheap means of transport between the two countries
with its low-fare rates, particularly for families separated after Partition.