The Government of India has extended the rail agreement with Pakistan linking the two countries through the Munabao- Khokhrapar rail line. Earlier Pakistan had also extended the rail link agreement. The agreement has been extended to January 31, 2021.
The two countries currently have two trans-border trains:
- The Samjhauta Express that operates between Delhi-Lahore via the Attari-Wagah border. It carries passengers as well as freights.
- The Thar Express that links Jodhpur and Karachi via the Munabao-Khokhrapar. It carries only passengers.
About Munabao-Khokhrapar link: The Khokhrapar-Munabao train service connects Khokhrapar in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and Munabao in Rajasthan. This rail link that had existed before was destroyed during the 1965 war between the two nations. The rail service was revived once again in February 2006 after 41 years.
Difficulties: Munabao railway station is located in Rajasthan’s Barmer district but the passengers have to undertake a journey of 200 km to Jodhpur, since this is the only place where they are permitted to board the train. Second, the main idea behind restarting of train link was to connect the separated families, but the families can only meet at Jodhpur since foreign nationals are not allowed to go west of National Highway-15 at Barmer.
