At the three-day talks here from June 17, senior railways officials of the two countries will also examine various other issues related to Indo-Pak train operation. The two sides will deliberate on a proposal for introduction of freight service on the Jodhpur-Munnabao-Kokrajhar section. At present the freight service is operated only through Wagah border.
There is a proposal for extension of the freight train operation beyond Lahore and Amritsar, the official said ahead of talks here. They will also explore the possibility of increasing capacity in passenger trains and hiking the luggage rates.
"We want to increase the frequency of freight trains so that more goods can be exported or imported," the official said.
Currently, only two freight trains operate between the two countries per day and we propose to increase it to four, the official said.
Both the countries are keen to raise the bilateral trade and are discussing ways to do so. India imported 45,000 tonnes of cement in April and 60,000 tonnes of cement in May from Pakistan by rail.
The two sides will also discuss proposals for increasing the capacity of passenger trains that are running on Delhi-Attari-Wagah and Jodhpur-Munnabao-Khokrapar sections. However, large baggages carried by the passengers is being viewed as a problem and the officials will discuss ways, including hiking the luggage rates, to discourage such a practice.
"It has been found that passengers are carrying maximum luggages in these trains causing security problem and also inconvenience to others. We want to dissuade the passengers from carrying maximum luggages by proposing to increase the rates substantially from the scheduled rate," the official said.
The talks are held every year as part of the inter-government railway meeting. Last Indo-Pak meeting on train operation was held in Pakistan in 2007.
