Despite Pakistan stopping Samjhauta Express at Wagah Border citing security reasons on Thursday, the international bus services operated by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on two loops from Delhi to Lahore and Delhi to Kathmandu was running as normal. However, only ‘four’ passengers were there in the bus that left for Lahore from Ambedkar stadium terminal on Thursday early morning.
The bus to Lahore starts at around 6 am from Ambedkar stadium terminal at Delhi Gate and reaches Pakistan in the evening on the same day. The bus services are running as usual and four passengers were on the board for Pakistan,” said Tarun Kumar Verma, the spokesperson of DTC.
The DTC further said the passengers going to Pakistan book tickets online or off line in advance. “The number of passengers varies time to time. Sometimes there are more passengers, for instance, about ‘Four’ passengers left the country to Lahore on Thursday and ‘Three’ passengers reached Delhi from Lahore on the same day and we have about 32 bookings for Friday on the bus having a capacity for 40 passengers,” said the official.
The DTC runs buses to Pakistan ply every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Delhi to Lahore and Pakistan Tourist Development Corporation (PTDC) operates buses on every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday from Lahore to Delhi.
Another transport official, said that the bus service is being operated without any hitch. We will suspend the services only if we get an advisory and direction from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as Delhi Government cannot suspend the bus service on its own.
Delhi Lahore Bus which is also known as ‘Sada-e-Sarhad’ is an international bus services operated by DTC, Delhi government and Pakistan. The service was first started in February 1999 but suspended after the 2001 Parliament attack. It was restarted in July 2003. Both the countries operate the bus services on two loops from Delhi to Lahore and Lahore to Delhi and both the services starts in the early morning at 6 AM and reach the destination in the evening. The Buses are provided escort by Delhi Police till it reaches Haryana and then providing security becomes their responsibility. The bus is provided security cover by Punjab Police after its enters into Punjab and reaches Atari border. The other bus service operates from Delhi to Kathmandu and it is provided the same security protocol.
Earlier, in the day, citing reasons of Indian government’s move to divide Jammu and Kashmir by revoking Article 370, Pakistan on Wednesday had announced that it will downgrade diplomatic ties with the country and will expel the Indian High Commissioner and suspend bilateral trade with New Delhi.
It announced suspension of Samjhauta express and clouds of uncertainty are hovering the future of Delhi- Lahore bus service.