Pakistan receives 46 high-speed coaches from china
China has sent 46 of the 230 new high-speed passenger buses to Pakistan Railways by sea, which will take around three weeks to arrive at the port of Karachi.
By the end of this month, these coaches will travel on the Karachi-Lahore-1 main line to Lahore after being turned over to the railway authorities, Dawn has learned.
“Yes, on Friday China dispatched 46 new coaches. In the next three weeks, perhaps, we’ll have them in Karachi,” said Dawn’s Additional Director General PR (Mechanical), Shahid Aziz.
A major Chinese company has produced 230 cutting-edge passenger buses under the $140 million deal, of which 46 will be delivered as fully built units (CBUs), while the rest 184 will be produced in Pakistan by PR engineers and technical employees under the guidance of Chinese experts.
The Chinese company also manufactures 20 brake waggons and 800 freight waggons for another contract of a similar sort. While the majority of waggons would be produced in Pakistan via technology transfer, some are now made in China.
Under the terms of the contract, the Chinese company would supply raw materials and spare components for the buses and coaches to be produced in Pakistan at the PR Carriage Factory in Islamabad.
An 18-person team of PR officials visited China in the second week of August to conduct design inspections and receive training on technology transfer.
They were unable to inspect the prototype cars because they had not yet been manufactured.
Pakistan receives 46 high-speed coaches from china
The new cars and coaches would help PR strengthen its rolling stock infrastructure, the AGM added, adding that the first batch of high-speed cars will be delivered by a Chinese business next month.
In light of the fact that the Khanpur-Kotri segment is not appropriate for high-speed trains, it is important to note that the Railways is working to upgrade the deteriorated line (ML-1).
Inadequate railway track conditions, malfunctioning safety equipment, authorities’ carelessness, speeding, inadequate maintenance, staff shortages, and other factors have contributed to a number of tragic accidents in recent years.
The worst year for railroad accidents, both deadly and non-fatal, was 2019.
