Attari (Punjab): Samjhauta Express, the bilateral train service between India and Pakistan, left the Attari Railway station at 6:40 pm and crossed over to Wagah on the other side of the border at 7 pm on Thursday.
The train, bound for Lahore, has 70 passengers on board.
Earlier in the day, the Samjhauta Express had finally arrived at Attari Railway station after it was delayed following reports that Pakistan had suspended the train service to India.
According to reports, railway crew and guard from India had gone with a train engine to Pakistan earlier today after receiving a message from them that their driver and crew had refused to come to India.
Earlier in a statement on August 7, Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said, "In a decision by the Railway Ministry, Samjhauta Express services have been permanently stopped. The people who had already purchased their tickets can get their money reimbursed from Lahore DS office."
The minister made the announcement as passengers were waiting at the Lahore station to board the train to travel to India.
"Till I am Railways minister, Samjhauta Express train service will not operate," he said, adding that the bogies of the train will now be used for passengers travelling on the occasion of Eid.
However, the Indian Railways denied the above development and maintained that train would run normally.
"No formal message has been received for stopping the train. The Train will run. Samjhauta Express has been moved from Wagha and it will come to Attari," informed the Railway Ministry in a statement.
Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, Deepak Kumar said that there was some issue regarding crew guard and that was the reason for which the train was stationed at Wagah.
However, Pakistani media reports suggested that Pakistan did not send their crew guards for Samjhauta Express as a mark of protest. This in turn, resulted in the suspension of the train.
Samjhauta Express runs on the Delhi-Lahore route on Wednesdays and Sundays. "There are about 110 passengers coming to India from Pakistan and we have 70 passengers going to the other side," informed the Ministry of Railways.
Pertinently, the Samjhauta Express train service was suspended earlier this year, due to escalating tensions between the two neighbouring countries in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack. However, the service was later resumed.
The Samjhauta Express, named after the Hindi word for "agreement", comprises six sleeper coaches and an AC 3-tier coach. The train service was started on July 22, 1976 under the Simla Agreement that settled the 1971 war between the two nations.
On the Indian side, the train runs from Delhi to Attari and from Lahore to Wagah on the Pakistan side.
Pakistan's latest move comes a day after it expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria on Wednesday and decided to downgrade the diplomatic ties with India over what it called New Delhi's "unilateral and illegal" move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Read: Restrictions in Kashmir may be relaxed for people to participate Eid-al-Adha
