India's Frontier Railways

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India's Frontier Railways: The Samjhauta Express

Bernard Hill

Gerry Troyna

Grant McKee

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India's Frontier Railways: Episode 3: The Samjhauta Express

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The Samjhauta Express

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Samjhauta Express

BBC Four - India's Frontier Railways, The Samjhauta Express

A look at life on the India-Pakistan cross-border train known as the Samjhauta Express.

Documentary series. A look at the cross-border train known as the Samjhauta Express, which travels from Lahore to Delhi, and some of its passengers.

Freedom came to the subcontinent in August 1947. The British hastily partitioned British India before they left. Independence was attended by a million deaths and 14 million people were displaced. 

Yet despite three wars, Pakistan and Indian railways have established a cross-border train, known as the Samjhauta Express - Samjhauta meaning agreement.

Amongst the passengers on the Samjhauta Express from Lahore to Delhi are Bilal and his father Abiz. Seventeen-year-old Bilal was the victim of an accident which damaged his eye. Unable to source the right treatment in Pakistan, father and son trawled the internet and finally found a suitable clinic. But it was in India. They have never stepped outside Pakistan, so they are a little nervous. Will they be successful in getting Bilal's eye treated?

Also on the train is Rahat Khan, the hockey queen. She's a Pakistan international and a railway hockey champion. She is travelling with her Pakistan girls' hockey team to play a match in India. But not everything goes to plan.

For the Sikh community, the Punjab is home. The golden temple of Amritsar is the holy of holies. But each year, on Guru Nanak's birthday, the railway runs special trains across the border to the guru's birthplace in Pakistan, despite the security concerns.

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Three-part series about trains crossing borders in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan

Three-part series about trains crossing borders in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, reconnecting families, cultures and history

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India's Frontier Railways

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