MIRPURKHAS, Feb 17: Carrying 71 passengers from India, the Thar Express reached the Zero Point at 12:45pm on Saturday.

The Khokhrapar-Munabao train service has resumed after a suspension of six months.

Earlier, an India-bound Thar Express, with 126 passengers from Karachi and Hyderabad on board, arrived at Mirpurkhas at 3:35am. Thirty more passengers boarded the train from Mirpurkhas. The train left after half an hour to reach Zero Point at 8:30am.

After fulfilment of customs formalities, the exchange of passengers of the two trains was undertaken amid strict security.

In Hyderabad, the passengers carrying heavy luggage had to face problems in boarding the Thar Express due to the closure of the platform-1 for maintenance, our correspondent adds from Hyderabad.

The passengers, including old men and women, had to approach the platform-3 for boarding the train which arrived at 2:10am and left for Mirpurkhas after 20 minutes for onwards journey to Zero Point.

Contrary to an earlier nine bogies, this time only seven bogies were available with the Thar Express, which reduced its capacity drastically.

A total of 31 seats (with five berths) were reserved for the people of Hyderabad as against one full bogie for 88 passengers earlier.

Passengers criticised the railway authorities for disallowing the relatives of passengers to see them off.

The Khokhrapar-Munabao train service had been stopped after the war of 1965 between Pakistan and India. The service resumed after a lapse of 41 years in February 2006. As agreed, Pakistan conducted the operations for first six months till August 12, 2006.

Later, India sent its first train on August 19 but soon suspended the operation due to rain-related damages in the Jodhpur railway station.

APP Adds: According to Syed Tahir Hasan Bukhari, Division Commercial Officer, Railways, Karachi, the exchange of passengers took place in a very smooth manner. There was no change in the standard of the train service.

A festive atmosphere prevailed at Zero Point on the arrival of the two trains.

Some passengers offered Zuhr prayers at the station and prayed that the train service remain intact and relations between Pakistan and India improve.