LAHORE, Jan 22: Some 75 locomotives will be procured from China to minimise travel time of trains while no proposal is under consideration to reduce rail fares, says Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour.

“We don’t have enough locomotives that is why our trains do not reach destinations in time. In order to overcome the shortage, it has been decided to procure locomotives from China,” said Bilour at a news conference at the PR headquarters in Lahore on Thursday.

An agreement to the effect had been reached with a Chinese firm that would also arrange finances for the delivery of 25 completely built-up and 50 completely knock-down locomotives and the former could be put in operation soon after arrival while the latter would be manufactured at the PR Locomotive Factory at Risalpur, he added.

Giving breakdown, the minister said the Chinese would deliver 15 completely built-up locomotives of 1,500 HP, five each of 2,000 HP and 3,000 HP engines while 25 completely knocked-down locomotives would have 2,000 HP and as many 3,000 HP locomotives.

Bilour said rail fares were increased in July last year when diesel was Rs53 per litre. “There has been no reduction in the diesel price that has increased instead and is now Rs55.70 per litre. How can we reduce fares?” asked the minister.

It would not be fair to compare railways with road transport, maintained Bilour who added: “Railways has a host of difficulties that contribute to its deficit. People don’t understand and criticise railways.

“Transporters don’t have to build roads and maintain them. Railways constructs tracks and is responsible for its maintenance. Transporters don’t have to pay pension, but we pay Rs4.5 million to our retired employees. We have hospitals, schools and colleges while the transporters don’t have any such welfare facility for their employees,” argued Bilour who maintained it was very difficult to improve the financial condition of railways.

However, efforts were under way to minimise the gap between the income and expenditure of the railways. “I have asked railways officers to devise within 10 days means in this regard.

All possible measures would be taken for ensuring more facilities to the travelling public at railways stations as well as in the trains.

“The condition of railways was much better during my first tenure as minister,” recalled Bilour while regretting that wrong policies of successive governments, especially neglect of the profit-earning freight sector, badly affected its financial situation. In 1993, when I was minister for railways, its annual losses were Rs1.5 billion which have now surged to Rs32 billion,” he added.

Railways was not responsible for the fertiliser crisis. “The imported fertiliser was offloaded at Gwadar where no track exists. We have freight but don’t have wagons to load it. We are refurbishing wagons but not enough to meet the requirement,” said the minister.