India, Pakistan to maintain Samjhauta passengers' record

Islamabad, Feb 28 (UNI) India and Pakistan have jointly drafted a new procedure to issue tickets to Samjhauta Express passengers to maintain a proper passenger record, in the wake of the February 19 blast in the peace train.

The railway authorities of both countries have decided to maintain a proper record of all the passengers of the train, an official statement said.

The authorities in both countries decided that the Pakistan ticketing authority would issue tickets only from Lahore Railway Station to Attari Railway Station and the Indian authorities would maintain the record from there, Daily Times reported.

About 68 passengers, most of them from Pakistan, lost their lives in the February 19 Samjhauta Express blast. The two countries faced great problems in the identification of the deceased passengers.

Similarly, the Indian authorities will issue tickets from Delhi to Wagah Railway Station from where the Pakistan authorities will take over. In the past, both countries' railways issued tickets for eight cities but without proper record.

However, after the February 19 incident, authorities of both countries have decided to maintain a passenger record, which would include the passengers' names, addresses, contact numbers and other particulars.

UNI