India’s Only Railway Station Requiring Passport, Visa: Know Full Story Of Attari Shyam Singh Railway Station

India has one very unique railway station. Passengers must show both a visa and a passport to travel from here. Officials will not let you board the train without these documents. Do you know the name of this station?

Attari Shyam Singh Railway Station Needs Visa

People usually need just a platform ticket or a travel ticket to enter a railway station in India. But our country has one special railway station. Visitors must carry a passport and a valid visa along with their ticket to go inside. This is the Attari Shyam Singh Railway Station in the Amritsar district of Punjab. The station sits very close to the India-Pakistan border. Officials never allowed even local citizens to step inside the station premises without proper permission documents.

Authorities have a strong reason behind this strict rule. This station served as the last stop on the Indian border for the famous Samjhauta Express train that ran between India and Pakistan. Officials conducted customs and immigration checks right here for passengers travelling from Delhi to Lahore. Authorities enforced this strict rule to ensure passengers had proper travel documents before boarding the train to Pakistan. Security forces maintained such tight arrangements that they would arrest anyone caught without a valid visa and passport under the Foreigners Act and send them to jail.

Authorities stopped the Samjhauta Express services in August 2019!

BSF personnel and central intelligence agencies keep the entire station premises under constant surveillance. However, authorities stopped the Samjhauta Express services in August 2019 due to diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan. International train journeys do not happen from here anymore. Security forces still maintain strict security there because it is a border area. Attari holds a special identity in Indian Railway history as the only station that requires a passport and visa.