ISLAMABAD: Once the backbone of the national freight and transport system, Pakistan Railways now finds itself fallen on hard times with more than half of its locomotives not only out of order but also having outlived their designed life by more than 40 years.

“The PR owns a fleet of 409 DE (diesel engine) locomotives; more than 58 per cent of them have outlived their life of 20 years,” reads a working paper of the railways ministry. “At present, the number of locomotives available for operations is only 200.”

A senior official told Dawn that it had become difficult for the state-run corporation to maintain even this fleet because of the shortage of funds and spare parts. Over the last three years, the supply of spare parts has remained below 50pc due to funding problems, which has resulted in locomotives not being available and being unreliable.

The official added that the 200 locomotives currently in operation are working poorly and cannot travel long distances non-stop because of the lower complement of traction motors and weak power assemblies.

“At least 209 DE locomotives are out of service for want of vital spares,” he said. Fifty-six overage locomotives that cannot be repaired have recently been condemned.

In fact, the number of locomotives available for operations tumbled to 175 last year, but the situation has since improved to 200 because of the government’s rehabilitation efforts. The number of DE locomotives for freight train operations also dropped to eight per day last year, but has now risen to 24 per day.

Informed sources said that it was not just locomotives that are in bad shape: the entire railway line, including its bridges, is in poor repair which could lead to disaster at any time. “The majority of more than 14,570 bridges have completed their designed life and need rehabilitation,” this official said.

The official record suggests that of 137 diesel engines of 3,000HP (horse power), only 40 locomotives are currently in service while 97 are out of order, 37 of which cannot be repaired. Similarly, 107 of 187 locomotives of 2,000/2,400HP are currently in operation while 80 are out of use, 23 of them beyond the stage of repair. Similarly, 53 smaller engines of 1,500HP or less are in operation while 32 are out of order.

Of the total 409 locomotives, 239 (or 58pc) are overage by up to 60 years. In fact, 57 locomotives have been in use for 60 years, 33 have been in use for 56 years and another 16 have been in service for 52 years. The designed shelf-life of these locomotives is 20 years, while the average life of overage locomotives is about 36 years.

An official said that the new government had prepared a rehabilitation and upgradation plan worth Rs143 billion for the gradual revival of Pakistan Railways. Under this plan, Rs6.2bn are to be spent on the rehabilitation of 27 diesel engines while another Rs20bn will be spent on the procurement of 58 new locomotives from China through the public sector development programme.

Another pilot project worth Rs2.5bn has been initiated at the Risalpur manufacturing facility for the production of five engines locally while a major investment of Rs43bn is being planned for the procurement of 75 new DE locomotives, including 55 in the 4,000HP category and 20 in the 2,000HP category.

The official said a Rs55bn project for the procurement of 150 new locomotives through the public sector development programme had been stalled following litigation over the alleged violation of bidding rules.

He said that a major overhaul of the main railway line from Karachi to Rawalpindi and from Lahore to Faisalabad was currently in different phases of implementation because more than 80pc of the bridges are overage.

“We have been talking about making Pakistan the regional hub of trade and economic activities through rail and road networks but the reality is that a major portion of railway tracks and bridges are overage, the signals and telecom system is obsolete and locomotives are in poor condition,” the official concluded.