LAHORE, Feb 13: As passenger traffic between India and Pakistan is increasing since the revival of travel links between the two countries, around 14,000 people, including tourists from other countries, travel to and from Lahore by road, rail and air every month.
The Lahore-Delhi Bus Service is the only mode of transport between Pakistan and India that is operating to its full capacity, and the passengers have to book seats at least one month in advance.
The recently launched Lahore-Amritsar service is, however, expected to ease the load because the travellers having visas for Indian cities other than Amritsar or the Indian Punjab can also travel by this bus as transit passengers.
Such passengers are not allowed to stay in Amritsar or Punjab, and are immediately boarded on trains to their respective destinations in India. So far, however, few passengers are travelling to Amritsar.
The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation officials say that the Lahore-Amritsar bus is a new service and there is not much publicity about it among people. “It is expected that the passenger volume to this bus service will increase with awareness as well as issuance of visas for Indian Punjab’s cities,” they say.
They also say that passenger volume will further increase with the establishment of visa offices or counters in Lahore and Amritsar.
Besides these two bus services, the air and rail links are also catering to the needs of people intending to travel to and from India. The air and rail links were resumed on Jan 1, 2004, after a break of two years as a part of confidence building measures (CBMs).
As many as six flights are operating on the Lahore-Delhi sector — two Air India and four PIA flights — to almost full capacity on weekly basis.
It is learnt that 130 economy and club class seats in each Boeing are usually booked.
Similarly, the Samjhota Express operates twice a week and carries around 500 passengers in each go. It operates on Mondays and Thursdays, and returns on the same day. The express has 10 first and economy class coaches with a seating capacity of 880 passengers.
It is learnt that the number of passengers increases considerably during the summer vacation or with the arrival of Sikh pilgrims visiting Lahore and Nankana Sahib.
The officials also told Dawn that no senior citizen had come to Lahore office for visa since the facility was made available by the government. “All senior citizens come to Lahore railway station for a ticket having valid visa stamped from Indian High Commission in Islamabad,” they say.
Besides these four links, a large number of international tourists and delegations from both countries cross over the Wahga border on foot.
It may also be mentioned that the Pakistan and Indian governments have also announced the launching of regular Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service from Feb 24. This service has been introduced mainly to facilitate Sikh Yatris’ visit to Nankana Sahib.