Pakistan and India will resume a train service after suspension of six months, a senior Railways official said on Tuesday.

Thar Express, between the Indian city of Munabao and the Pakistani town of Khokhrapar was suspended on Aug. 19, 2006 as rail track on the Indian side was washed away by heavy rains.

The Indian Railways has informed the Pakistan that the train service would re-start its operation on Feb. 17, Pakistani Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Tuesday.

Ahmed was talking to the Indian High Commissioner Satya Brata Pal, according to an official statement issued in Islamabad.

The minister has said that Pakistan Railways was upgrading boarding and lodging facilities at Zero Point near Khokhrapar to meet with the needs of ever rising number of passengers.

The uplifting and renovation of Wagah station was also underway that included provision of air-conditioned waiting rooms, additional immigration counters and sanitary facilities, he added.

The minister said that keeping in view the rising economy of Pakistan, the load of freight movement has increased manifold in the last few years.

To cope with the emerging and projected situation in term of goods transportation, Pakistan Railway direly needed locomotives, freight coaches and new rail tracks, according to Ahmed.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2007)