LAHORE, Dec 1: The Samjhota Express has been running between Wagah and Atari stations without any guards for the last two months or so, it is learnt. Pakistan Railway authorities said names of three guards were sent to the Indian Embassy in Islamabad for visa issuance. “Mian Awais, Hamid Mushtaq and Sheikh Shafiqur Rahman have yet to get visas, and their passports are still with the Indian Embassy,” sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The Pakistan Railways commercial manual defines guard as in charge of a train. Categorizing trains into passenger, goods and mixed types, it says: “All trains shall be appurtenanced with guard in charge.”

A former federal government inspector of railways elaborated: “The station master or his deputy is the in charge of a train until it crosses the outer signal. A train cannot go into a block section (the distance between two stations) without a guard according to the PR Operating Manual.”

The train must cover the distance between Wagah and Atari stations with a guard in charge, he said.

The Samjhota Express started running between Lahore and Atari on Mondays and Thursdays from Nov 28.

The frequency of the train operation has been enhanced keeping in view the increase in number of passengers in the light of a five-year agreement signed between Pakistan and Indian railway authorities in the third week of December 2003.