As soon as the near future, the Pakistan Railways (PR) plans to evaluate prototype models of the high-capacity freight waggons and passenger coaches it plans to purchase from a renowned Chinese manufacturer.
More than a dozen middle- and upper-level government officials will soon be travelling to China for training and model inspections (in accordance with specifications, designs, etc.), according to information obtained by Dawn. The visits are part of two separate contracts under which the Chinese firm will transfer technology for Pakistani coach manufacturers.
According to Pakistan Railways’ Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) Abdul Haseeb, the Chinese company has been awarded $140 million (Rs31 billion) to manufacture 230 state-of-the-art passenger coaches, 46 of which are to be delivered to us in the form of a completely built unit (CBU) and the remaining 184 are to be manufactured here in Pakistan by our engineers and technical staff under the supervision of the Chinese, per Dawn.
This contract does not include the purchase of 800 waggons and 20 brake waggons, he said.
