Pakistan Railways to save Rs 13.5 billion with Chinese help

Lahore: Pakistan Railways (PR) will save Pakistani Rs 13.5 billion as they are producing updated locomotive engines with the help of the Chinese engineers, a senior government official said.

Pakistan originally bought these locomotive engines from China in 2014. Further, they finalized the contract for maintenance with a Chinese company in 2017.

While the project was delayed because of various reasons, now the matters have been settled. Considering the claims of PR, these 34 locomotives in production will be functional by August 2023.

General Manager of PR maintenance and service, Salman Sadiq Sheikh, said: “We can invest the saved money in improving the engines or increasing the salaries or pensions of our employees, which will enhance the country’s economy. We expect to save Rs 13.5 billion as we would have to spend around this much money to buy new ones from outside Pakistan.”

Pakistani and Chinese mechanical engineers are doing all this work of producing locomotive engines at the Mughalpura railway workshop in Lahore, he added.

PR mechanical and Chinese engineers are also working with the Mughalpura railway workshop staff in shifts.

Furthermore, these PR mechanical and Chinese engineers are using modern technology, which is environment-friendly and inexpensive.

PR mechanical and Chinese engineers will produce almost three locomotives monthly for use. These updated new engines will come into action next year.

Lahore, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Karachi will use the engines updated jointly by Pakistani and Chinese engineers. Pakistan will be able to use these engines for freight and passenger trains for the next eleven years.

Salman Sadiq Sheikh further said that these locomotive engines are unique, “as we have used modern technology in their preparation, which means that they will produce less pollution.”

He added: “Producing environment-friendly communication in Pakistan is an essential need to decrease the country’s increasing pollution. Due to pollution, people feel difficulty in breathing, and many diseases are rising because of that. So it was our motive to produce such engines with less pollution.”

He informed that for some time, the Chinese company will be responsible for maintaining the locomotive engines.

Afterward, the Pakistani locomotive workshop staff will learn and practice maintaining these locomotive engines.

“When Pakistanis start maintaining locomotive engines themselves, it will open the door to new opportunities for Pakistan Railways and ensure a brighter future. We will save billions,” he remarked.

In 2013, the PR had signed a deal with Chinese company CSR Ziyang for the procurement of 58 diesel-electric locomotives, half of which had 2,000 horsepower and the other half had 3,000 horsepower.

The deal was finalised at a price of US $48.431 million. First consignment of five locomotives reached Pakistan on April 5, 2014. By January 2015, the company delivered all the locomotives.

The induction of the new locomotives helped the railways streamline its operation and earn revenues of Pakistani Rs 31.92 billion, Rs 3.95 billion in excess of the target in fiscal year 2014-15.

Keeping in view the pace of past growth, the management had increased its revenue target to Rs 48 billion for fiscal year 2015-16, Rs 5 billion more than the target suggested by then government advisers.