11 February 2005	Friday	01 Muharram 1426

ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: The Pakistan Railways (PR) suffered a Rs810 million loss after nine of the 23 locomotives bought from China developed faults, sources told Dawn here on Wednesday.

They said cracks had appeared in the main platforms of the nine locomotives, leaving adverse affects on its operation.

When contacted, Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haidar said he would discuss the issue with the Chinese government to find an amicable solution. Pakistan had intended to import some more locomotives from China, but after the bad performance of the Chinese locomotives, it seemed impossible, he added.

The minister said China was the best friend of Pakistan and, therefore, any decision on the problem would be taken only after meeting with Chinese officials.

In reply to a query, Mr Haidar said Pakistan was already in need of more locomotives due to increasing passenger traffic and would advertise its demand very soon.

Asked about other options with the PR to procure locomotives, the minister said Pakistan had been buying locomotives from America, Japan and Germany. However, it was yet to be decided whether to buy locomotives from these countries or not, he added.

"On Thursday, I am holding a meeting in this connection with the officials concerned in Lahore," he said.

Asked why PR officials opted for Chinese locomotives when they had other options available, the minister said he was not sure whether the PR officials knew about the quality of the Chinese locomotives or not.

The government, he said, would properly investigate the matter because the locomotives had been procured about four years ago and the contract would be examined keeping in view the situation at that time.

Meanwhile, sources said the government on Nov 8, 2001, signed a Rs5.9 billion ($98million) contract for procuring 23 locomotives from China on the terms and conditions of supplier's credit, they said.

They said that the PR officials feared that they had to pull out the remaining 14 locomotives as they were also showing signs of multiple disabilities.

The repair and maintenance cost of the Chinese locomotives, they said, had increased manifold than the expectations of the railways officials.

Officials said the performance of Chinese locomotives was never satisfactory. Though Chinese engineers had modified these locomotives to run in a different environment, for Pakistan they needed more changes, they added.

However, the Chinese locomotives were continuously failing despite modifications. It was due to the substandard performance of Chinese locomotives that the PR had already extended their warranty period.