India, Pakistan resume "peace train"

New Delhi_(dpa) _ India and Pakistan have resumed the Thar Express train service after the rail link was suspended last year following floods in a bordering Indian state, officials said Saturday.

The Thar Express - also called the "peace train" as the South Asian neighbours hope it would help improve bilateral ties - was flagged off from Jodhpur city in India's north-western Rajasthan state on Friday night after nearly six months.

Massive floods in Rajasthan in August 2006 had damaged railway tracks bringing to a halt the train that links the state with Pakistan's Sindh province.

But there were few takers for the service, with only 71 passengers onboard. "We had no idea that the service has been resumed. We came to know about it just a few days ago,"a passenger told the NDTV network.

Railway officials however said the sales of the tickets would pick up in the coming weeks.

"As time passes by, many more people will get to know that the train has been restored," a senior railway official Vijay Sehgal, told reporters.

"It will provide a boost to people to people contacts across the border," he added.

The seven-coach train is expected to carry 400 passengers to Pakistan once every week and bring an equal number of travellers to India, officials said.

The Thar Express was launched on 18 February 2006 after being shut down in 1965 during a war between the two countries.

Named after the famous Thar Desert that straddles the southern half of the India-Pakistan border, the Thar Express is the second train service between the countries.

They already operate the Samjhauta Express between Lahore city in Pakistan and India's Attari town.

The service is part of the measures the two countries have taken to boost mutual trust since the start of their peace process called "composite dialogue" in February 2004 to resolve their outstanding issues including Kashmir.

But while there had been forward movement in the confidence building measures (CBMs), the two nuclear neighbours have failed to make any tangible progress in their most contentious dispute over Kashmir. dpa sk sc