Attari

Attari (Hindi: अटारी), also spelled Atari, is a village of Amritsar District in the Punjab state of India, 3 km from the Indo-Pakistani border at Wagah. It is situated 25 km west of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, and is the last Indian station on the rail route connecting Lahore, Pakistan with the Indian capital Delhi. Attari village was the native village of Sardar Sham Singh Attariwala, one of the generals in the Army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Overview

Over the years, trade regulation between the India and Pakistan have been eased, especially after 2007, annual trade through road increased from Rs 6.5 billion in 2007 to Rs 15 billion in 2010-11. After the Integrated Check Post (ICP) was opened at Attari on April 13, 2012 to improve road trade, around 500 trucks have been crossing the border every day.

It is the starting point of the National Highway 1, part of the historic Grand Trunk Road and is also part of AH1, the longest route of the Asian Highway Network. The Samjhauta Express, the train service that actually crosses the international border, the only train that runs from Attari railway station to Wagah, Pakistan a distance of 3 km.