Service type Inter-city rail Start Karachi Cantonment End Zero Point | First service 2006 Stops 2 | |
 | ||
Current operator(s) Pakistan Railways
Indian Railways | ||
Thar Express (Urdu: تهر ایکسپریس, Hindi: थार एक्सप्रेस) is an international passenger train operated daily by Pakistan Railways between Karachi, Pakistan and Jodhpur, India. Both Pakistan Railways and Indian Railways takes responsibility for the train on its own territory.
Contents
History
The Thar Express is a continuation of the previous Sind Mail which use to travel between Karachi and Ahmedabad via the Hyderabad - Mirpur Khas - Khokhrapar - Munabao - Barmer - Luni - Jodhpur - Pali - Marwar and Palanpur. The rail link was destroyed during the War of 1965 and the Sind Mail route ended. On 18 February 2006, it was revived after a period of 41 years. In 2005, Pakistan converted the line from metre gauge to broad gauge, thus enabling the trains to run non stop to and from Karachi. This was not possible earlier because there would be a change of gauge in between, either at Hyderabad or Mirpur Khas. Prior to 1965, the last Pakistani station was Khokhrapar, about 10 kilometers from the border. When the new service began in 2006, Pakistan constructed a new station (Zero Point railway station) a few hundred metres from the border, where immigration and customs checks are carried out now.
Route
The trip takes approximately 12 hours and 15 minutes to cover a published distance of 381 kilometres (237 mi), traveling along a stretch of the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line and Hyderabad–Khokhrapar Branch Line. The train departs every Friday at 23:00 PST and arrives at Zero Point station near Khokhrapar at 08:00 PST. Zero Point serves as the final station on the Pakistani side. After customs, the crosses the border into India and arrives at Munabao, India at 11:00 IST. Passengers then have to buy tickets for the Thar Link Express which departs Munabao at 19:00 IST and arrives at Bhagat Ki Kothi in Jodhpur at 23:50 IST on Saturday. This train runs non stop from the origin to destination From India, the train departs from Bhagat Ki Kothi in Jodhpur every Saturday 01:00 IST and arrives at Munabao at 07:00 IST. After customs, it crosses the border into Pakistan and arrives at Zero Point at 14:30 PST and reaches Karachi Cantonment at 2:15 PST on Sunday.