India cancels Samjhauta Express till further notice, cites lack of occupancy as reason

Samjhauta Express has been cancelled by India with effect from 3rd March 2019 till further notification. The Indian Railways decided to cancel operations from its side due to a sharp decline in passenger occupancy. Railways say that since the train is not coming from that side, therefore, in compulsion, India has to cancel the Samjhauta Express from March 4.
CPRO Northern railways said as the train had been cancelled by Pakistan no passengers were coming from that side either so India had to take this decision.
“With no passengers from Pakistan, it makes no sense to run it on our end. The cancellation has been done purely for operational reason. Hopefully we will be able to resume services once the tension de-escalates,” PTI quoted a source as saying.
Railway sources said that after the cancellation of the train by Pakistan it was getting difficult for passengers travelling from Delhi to Attari faced and they had to face many hurdles after reaching Attari. The railway officials said that passengers had to go through customs clearance after reaching Attari to continue their journey through bus service.
Pakistan has already suspended the service from their end after relations between both the countries escalated after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
As per the media reports, around 40 passengers from both the countries are believed to be stranded at Attari.
The Samjhauta Express train service started on July 22, 1976, under the Shimla Agreement after the 1971 India-Pakistan war ended.