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Thar Express: Two coaches added

         Karachi: Two economy class coaches have been added to the Thar Express, which runs between Karachi and Jodhpur. With the two new coaches, the Pakistan Railways would be able to accommodate 156 more passengers. Furthermore, replacing the first class sleeper coaches with economy class ones would make room for another 100 passengers. The Pakistan Railways' Karachi division on Friday added the two coaches after getting a verbal approval from the federal authorities concerned. The decision was taken in view of the large number of people intending to travel between India and Pakistan. There were complaints that most of them had to wait for their turn for several weeks after obtaining visa owing to the insufficient capacity of the train. In many cases, visa date would expire before their turn comes, reported the Dawn. According to the paper, the relevant agreement between the two countries provides for seven coaches for Thar Express. The Thar Express was to leave Karachi on Friday night with nine coaches whereas the replacement of first class sleeper coaches would take effect on June 8 because the service had already accepted seat reservation for the first class sleeper coach up to June 1, an official said.
-May 5,  2007