Amritsar-Lahore bus resumes, sans passengers

GS Paul

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 7

The Amritsar-Lahore ‘Punj-Aab’ bus service has resumed with ease in India-Pak border tension, but with just few passengers from either side.

Today not even a single passenger was there in the bus for Lahore and the “Dosti” bus that reached the Attari-Wagah terminal from Lahore too didn’t have a single occupant.

The Punj-Aab bus that runs every Tuesday and Friday was halted by the Punjab Roadways since October 1, following the border unrest.

On October 4 when the service was resumed only three passengers boarded the bus for Lahore. The same day, two passengers arrived in Amritsar through the “Dosti” bus from Pakistan.

Officials said with the disturbed Indo-Pak relations following the surgical strikes coupled with tedious visa issues, the number of passengers in the Amritsar-Lahore bus would remain less.

However, the Delhi-Lahore bus, officially known as ‘Sada-e-Sarhad’, continued its 500-km service from Delhi to the Attari border through the Attari-Wagah joint check-post.

The 'Punj-Aab' was flagged off by the then PM, Manmohan Singh, on March 24, 2006. The bus runs between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib. The Amritsar-Lahore service started on January 24, 2006.

The “Sada-e-Sarhad” service began in 1999, with the then PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, travelling on its inaugural run.