“Due care was taken while issuing tickets at the Special Counter at the Old Delhi Railway Station. There were two sealed luggage vans in the train leaving tonight. Earlier, there used to be four reserved, eight unreserved and four luggage vans,” Central PRO, Railways, Rajiv Saxena said.

Two dog squads made rounds of the platform as well as the coaches before the passengers were allowed to board the train. Policemen also scanned the tracks till Samjhauta left.

However, while Railway officials had said in the morning that two more CCTV cameras were being installed on Platform 18, there was none. Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav did drop in around 11 pm and went inside the coaches to meet the passengers.

The area around the train was cordoned and passengers had to pass through door-framed metal detectors. No one except passengers was allowed past the barricades around the train.

More than 200 security personnel had been deployed for luggage checking and frisking, while around 15 immigration officers meticulously checked papers of passengers. Later, due to the heavy rush, a baggage X-ray machine was also installed.

On board there were two RPF personnel per coach, who will accompany the passengers till Attari. The gates of the train were also sealed and there are instructions to not let anyone get on or off till Attari as there are no stops in between. Other states from where the train passes in its journey to Attari have been alerted to ensure security.

While still nervous, the passengers seem to have been reassured by the security measures. Mohammad Qasim, travelling with his mother, uncle and aunt, had an extra reason to be thankful. But for the fact that they couldn’t get tickets, they would have been on the Sunday Samjhauta that was ripped by the blasts.

Mohammad Yusuf and Kusum Musa, travelling with their three children, had to face a tough time as the latter’s visa had already expired. Four hours, and intervention by a few mediapersons later, the family finally got tickets.

For others, fear couldn’t be an issue. Mohammad Ehsan from Saharanpur was going for the first time to Pakistan to meet his sister. “All these years I never had the money to buy the ticket. Now I am not afraid of anything.”