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LAHORE: Unloading of a batch of 25 of 58 locomotives the Pakistan Railways (PR) is acquiring from a Chinese company will begin at Karachi port soon after Eidul Fitr.
“A Chinese ship, Da Yu Xia, carrying the locomotives and two power vans is scheduled to reach the Karachi port by noon on Monday (today),” an official of the Ministry of Railways told Dawn on Sunday.
The ship would release loose cargo immediately after being docked but unloading of 20 completely built-up (CBU) and five completely knocked down (CKD) locomotives besides two CBU power vans would start on July 30 in case Eidul Fitr falls on Tuesday (July 29), the official said.
Of the CBU locomotives, 15 of 2,000 HP and five of 3,000 HP will undergo a two-week trial before their induction into the PR fleet. Five CKD locomotives of 3,000 HP will be assembled at the Risalpur Loco Factory of the PR under the supervision of the technical staff of Chinese company CSR Zihang.
So far, the Chinese company has supplied 23 locomotives — 14 of 2,000 HP and nine of 3,000 HP. The locomotives are being kept in purpose-built sheds and special staff has been deployed for their care and maintenance.
Before inducting the power vans into the PR fleet, a trial will also be conducted to technically evaluate their performance.
“The PR is likely to get all the 58 locomotives — 29 of 2,000 HP and as many of 3,000 HP — in phases by the end of this year. All the remaining locomotives will be CBU,” said the official and added that the addition of new locomotives would help improve punctuality of passenger trains in particular and better freight service in general.
The official said the new locomotives, especially of 3,000 HP capacity, would mainly be used for freight operations.
Freight service is the major source of income for railways worldwide and the Pakistan Railways used to earn at least Rs6 billion annually from the operation of eight to 10 freight trains from Karachi to various upcountry destinations daily.
An acute shortage of locomotives in May 2011 had forced the railways administration to suspend all cargo trains from Karachi. Suspension of passenger trains and availability of locomotives resulted in restoration of freight service comprising four trains daily in December the same year. However, the freight service witnessed several ups and downs primarily due to locomotives shortage and the number of freight trains leaving Karachi numbered one or two daily.
After about three years, Pakistan Railways got a boost in December last year when five freight trains started leaving Karachi for upcountry destinations.
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014
