Only half seats booked on Samjhauta Express leaving today

New Delhi, Feb 21 (UNI) A day after 'Sada-e-Sarhad' bus logged full capacity on its journey from Delhi to Lahore, merely half of the total seats on Samjhauta Express leaving today have been booked with the devastating blasts still fresh in the minds of scared passengers.

Only 300 of the 576 seats have been booked for today's journey to Attari on Samjhauta Express leaving at its scheduled departure time at 2240 hrs, said a senior Railway official.

''As only ten bogies are going today, instead of the 16 coaches until now, the number of seats have become few. Still only nearly a half of the seats have been booked.'' While eight coaches were for the paseengers, two are for luggage and sundry purposes. All the seats on the Samjhauta Express would henceforth be reserved as was the case today, he added.

''Also, for the first time 15 officials of the Emmigration Department are stationed at the platform for verification of passengers.'' Meanwhile, number of 'escorts' on the train has been increased and nearly a 100 Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawans placed at Old Delhi Railway Station to infuse a sense of security.

Besides this, four of the six entry points on Platform No 18, from where the Samjhauta Express leaves, have been closed. Only two have been kept open for easy access to those who board the train.

Also, four 'check-points' have been put in place for screening of passengers of which each would cater to the frisking and scanning of people of two coaches.

UNI