LAHORE: Under a technology-transfer deal with China, Pakistan Railway has begun local manufacturing of 184 cutting-edge high-speed passenger coaches for the first time.
According to Dawn, under a separate technology transfer agreement with China, the department has initiated the production of 620 high-capacity flat goods wagons in Pakistan, because a team has begun pre-shipment inspection of the necessary materials in China for creating coaches.
PR’s Chief Executive Officer Amir Ali Baloch told Dawn on Thursday, “We have started manufacturing of the 184 modern high-speed designed (up to 140km) passenger coaches after the necessary machinery was installed at our Islamabad carriage factory under the technology-transfer agreement with China.”
“Our team is currently in China for a pre-shipment inspection of the same, so we will also receive other required material from them soon,” he continued.
Under a separate technology-transfer arrangement with China, 620 cargo wagons will be produced.
He claims that the 1,964 low-speed (around 100 km/h) coaches currently in use by the department would gradually come to an end when the high-speed coaches are manufactured.
In November 2021, the PR signed a $140 million contract with China Railway Construction Corporation Tangshan Locomotive and Rolling equipment Company for the procurement of 230 high-speed coaches, despite its plans to improve its rolling equipment. Regarding this, the department received a shipment of 46 fully completed units (CBUs) of contemporary, high-speed coaches from China during the final week of November 2022. The coaches were purchased as part of a 230-coach contract that included technology transfer.
Similar to this, the department got many consignments of 200 CBUs of contemporary goods/freight wagons from China as part of another arrangement to purchase 820 wagons in total, of which 620 are to be produced at the Mughalpura Workshop and the Risalpur carriage plant.
The CBUs, or contemporary train carriages, that were acquired from China were intended to travel at speeds of 140 km/h and 100 km/h, respectively. There were 20 brake wagons and 800 freight wagons among the 820 trains.
In response to a query, the CEO stated, “In addition to the high-speed feature, the suspension of both coaches and trains has also been designed with modern technology.”
In response to a follow-up inquiry, Mr. Baloch stated that the PR had embraced the new technology 20 years prior for producing the items’ wagons. However, these wagons were made using a semi-complete knock-down process. However, he insisted that the wagons would now be produced locally using the full knock-down method and technology under the new arrangement with China.
He stated that the PR now has more over 3,000 freight wagons and plans to gradually raise that number to 4,000.
Speaking of raising railway revenue, he stated that the PR will reach its annual revenue target of Rs85 billion by June 30 of this year, or Rs22 billion higher than the previous fiscal year, which concluded on June 30, 2023.
