Samjhauta Express

The Samjhauta Express is a bi-weekly train that runs between India and Pakistan. Until the reopening of the Thar Express, this was the only rail connection between the two countries. Up to 2002 it had been running, with just one break of service, since 1976. It was a daily train when the service started, and changed to a bi-weekly schedule in 1994. Earlier the rakes were returned to the home country the same day but later in 2000 the rake remained overnight at that location.

Its termini are Lahore in Pakistan and Amritsar in India. The border crossing takes place between Wagah in Pakistan and Attari in India. Originally, this was a through service with the same rake going all the way between the termini; later the Pakistani rake stopped at Attari at which point passengers had to change trains. The train service was set up with an agreement between Indian Railways (IR) and Pakistan Railways (PR) to alternately use an Indian and a Pakistani rake and locomotive for the train, six months at a time.

The train usually has between 4 and 8 coaches. The rake supplied by Pakistan is usually hauled by an Alco DL-543 class ALU20 diesel loco (Lahore shed), with the entire train in the standard dark green livery of PR.

In 2002 tensions between the two countries resulted in the train service being suspended. Service resumed on January 15, 2004.