Pakistan buying 150 railway engines in emergency Chinese suppliers fail to deliver

[Mogambo]

Pakistan buying 150 railway engines in emergency Chinese suppliers fail to deliver

ISLAMABAD: The shortage of locomotives in the Pakistan Railways has reached such a crisis stage that an emergency plan to procure 150 engines from reliable international suppliers has been put together as the Chinese suppliers have failed to deliver, senior officials of Railways told our sources.

General Manager Railways Shahid Ahmad on Thursday night confirmed to our sources that the top Railways management had finally decided to drop the idea of acquiring 75 locomotives from the Chinese company as 32 previously supplied engines out of 69 have been scrapped after they became unserviceable.

The 75 locomotives were ordered from China after President Zardari himself intervened and forced the Railways to oblige the Chinese suppliers despite large-scale opposition within the Railways Ministry. Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour had gone on record against the Chinese suppliers but he was given a shut-up call.

The GM Railways disclosed that already an advertisement to purchase 150 locomotives has been published internationally and now the Railways will ensure that no substandard locomotives are procured.

Sources say the Chinese supplier has also refused to honour the warranty on these 32 locomotives as they are ******* in Railways sheds in Karachi and Lahore. Purchase of 69 sub-standard locomotives from China by spending billions of rupees was one of the initial mega corruption scandals against General Pervez Musharraf and his team.

However, vested interests succeeded to even get the present government fall in line and to award the contract of another 75 locomotives from the same Chinese company. “12 locomotives of 2,000 HP and 20 locomotives of 3,000 HP, all under warranty, have now been totally scrapped. There is no way that these could be used and a great loss has been inflicted on the national exchequer,” GM Shahid said.

He added: “The total cost of these locomotives has proved to be very high as these outdated engines have a very high maintenance cost. Whenever we want to change a very important device in the engine, a turbo super charger, it become out of order within two to three months because of inferior quality of the engine and causes unbearable loss to the locomotive itself.”

The senior Railways official revealed that 15 per cent advance amount has already been paid to the Chinese company and now a letter has been sent to them seeking a reply within 14 days regarding complete breakdown of the 32 locomotives costing Pakistan billions of rupees.


He said after receiving the reply of this letter proceedings to get back 15 per cent advance amount would be initiated. He said the Pakistan Railways needs sturdy and tough diesel engines as it runs services on long routes from Karachi to Peshawar which also include hilly areas.

The GM said the Pakistan Railways is in dire need of the engines otherwise the whole railway system was going to collapse. The Pakistan Railways procured 69 locomotives from China in 2001 which were technically approved by the then management of Pakistan Railways in spite of excessive axle load. These locomotives did not perform very well and had developed lot of major faults that caused huge revenue losses. The cracking of underframe of more than 9 locomotives of 3,000 HP in 2005 is one example.

The Railways officials say in spite of this bad performance the previous Railways administration committed serious violations of tender conditions, PPRA Rules and international competitive bidding procedures and awarded the contract of another 75 locomotives to China. The recommendations of technical committee were ignored wherein they had disqualified the Chinese proposal thrice due to non-compliance of relevant clauses.

Pakistan News Service - PakTribune

 

[Mogambo]

Pakistan buying 150 railway engines in emergency

By Ahmad Noorani

ISLAMABAD: The shortage of locomotives in the Pakistan Railways has reached such a crisis stage that an emergency plan to procure 150 engines from reliable international suppliers has been put together as the Chinese suppliers have failed to deliver, senior officials of Railways told The News.

General Manager Railways Shahid Ahmad on Thursday night confirmed to The News that the top Railways management had finally decided to drop the idea of acquiring 75 locomotives from the Chinese company as 32 previously supplied engines out of 69 have been scrapped after they became unserviceable.

The 75 locomotives were ordered from China after President Zardari himself intervened and forced the Railways to oblige the Chinese suppliers despite large-scale opposition within the Railways Ministry. Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour had gone on record against the Chinese suppliers but he was given a shut-up call.

The GM Railways disclosed that already an advertisement to purchase 150 locomotives has been published internationally and now the Railways will ensure that no substandard locomotives are procured.

Sources say the Chinese supplier has also refused to honour the warranty on these 32 locomotives as they are ******* in Railways sheds in Karachi and Lahore. Purchase of 69 sub-standard locomotives from China by spending billions of rupees was one of the initial mega corruption scandals against General Pervez Musharraf and his team.

However, vested interests succeeded to even get the present government fall in line and to award the contract of another 75 locomotives from the same Chinese company. “12 locomotives of 2,000 HP and 20 locomotives of 3,000 HP, all under warranty, have now been totally scrapped. There is no way that these could be used and a great loss has been inflicted on the national exchequer,” GM Shahid said.

He added: “The total cost of these locomotives has proved to be very high as these outdated engines have a very high maintenance cost. Whenever we want to change a very important device in the engine, a turbo super charger, it become out of order within two to three months because of inferior quality of the engine and causes unbearable loss to the locomotive itself.”

The senior Railways official revealed that 15 per cent advance amount has already been paid to the Chinese company and now a letter has been sent to them seeking a reply within 14 days regarding complete breakdown of the 32 locomotives costing Pakistan billions of rupees.

He said after receiving the reply of this letter proceedings to get back 15 per cent advance amount would be initiated. He said the Pakistan Railways needs sturdy and tough diesel engines as it runs services on long routes from Karachi to Peshawar which also include hilly areas.

The GM said the Pakistan Railways is in dire need of the engines otherwise the whole railway system was going to collapse. The Pakistan Railways procured 69 locomotives from China in 2001 which were technically approved by the then management of Pakistan Railways in spite of excessive axle load. These locomotives did not perform very well and had developed lot of major faults that caused huge revenue losses. The cracking of underframe of more than 9 locomotives of 3,000 HP in 2005 is one example.

The Railways officials say in spite of this bad performance the previous Railways administration committed serious violations of tender conditions, PPRA Rules and international competitive bidding procedures and awarded the contract of another 75 locomotives to China. The recommendations of technical committee were ignored wherein they had disqualified the Chinese proposal thrice due to non-compliance of relevant clauses.

Pakistan buying 150 railway engines in emergency

 

[deckingraj]

kya ho raha hai...kahin kuch galat hai...chinese are known for their professionalism

No one is perfect...People do make mistakes...In the end it is all Biz...

@ members
No need to bring in China Pakistan relations into this...Strategic relations are on one side and biz as usual on other...India and Russia are also very close strategically however Gorkshov is a living example of being complacent when it comes to contracts...may be this is a similar example...

 

[Awesome]

^^^

It's an eye opener for all, look what they have done to pakistan which they calls their friend.

In Sri Lamka, chinese are inflating bills to the double the amount just to cheat sri lanka. Which is also getting their so called assistance.

Dude, talk some sense. These trade and issues... The government or people of China have not done anything against Pakistan.

Let the parties involved work out suitable compensation from the supplier. Some of you seem to be hanging on every speck of negativity with their dugdugi and dhol, ever-ready for some tamasha.

 

[TaimiKhan]

Its not the Chinese fault, its our own fault to have inducted such engines.

Problem is the railway guys have been one of the most corrupt, so to safe money to be put into their own pockets out of the total money allowed for buying such stuff, they go for cheap products, which only the Chinese provide, thus with the amount of contract given, this is what quality the Chinese can provide.

So it has nothing to do with the Chinese side, its our own doing.

Now they blame the Chinese and will go for some other expensive thing and once again fill their pockets with kickbacks and other stuff.

 

[Frankenstein]

Its not the Chinese fault, its our own fault to have inducted such engines.

Problem is the railway guys have been one of the most corrupt, so to safe money to be put into their own pockets out of the total money allowed for buying such stuff, they go for cheap products, which only the Chinese provide, thus with the amount of contract given, this is what quality the Chinese can provide.

So it has nothing to do with the Chinese side, its our own doing.

Now they blame the Chinese and will go for some other expensive thing and once again fill their pockets with kickbacks and other stuff.

You are so right by saying that, i have recently traveled by train from Lahore to Islamabad they look worst then ever, they don't care to maintain them, trains are scraped and rusted from places, sometimes air conditioning system stops working, even when the train is full they keep selling open tickets to make more money, there are lots of things needs to be done in this department

 

[Hutchroy]

Its not the Chinese fault, its our own fault to have inducted such engines.

Problem is the railway guys have been one of the most corrupt, so to safe money to be put into their own pockets out of the total money allowed for buying such stuff, they go for cheap products, which only the Chinese provide, thus with the amount of contract given, this is what quality the Chinese can provide.

So it has nothing to do with the Chinese side, its our own doing.

Now they blame the Chinese and will go for some other expensive thing and once again fill their pockets with kickbacks and other stuff.

In my opinion there is no “Kickbacks” as the Chinese Locomotive manufacturers are owned by the Chinese Government and similarly Pakistan Railways is owned by the Pakistan Government.

Again with the time tested and long lasting China-Pakistan relationship the Chinese are not going to provide Pakistan with substandard Locomotives.

Pakistan buying 150 railway engines in emergency Chinese suppliers fail to deliver

General Manager Railways Shahid Ahmad on Thursday night confirmed to our sources that the top Railways management had finally decided to drop the idea of acquiring 75 locomotives from the Chinese company as 32 previously supplied engines out of 69 have been scrapped after they became unserviceable.

The 75 locomotives were ordered from China after President Zardari himself intervened and forced the Railways to oblige the Chinese suppliers despite large-scale opposition within the Railways Ministry. Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour had gone on record against the Chinese suppliers but he was given a shut-up call.

The GM Railways disclosed that already an advertisement to purchase 150 locomotives has been published internationally and now the Railways will ensure that no substandard locomotives are procured.

Sources say the Chinese supplier has also refused to honour the warranty on these 32 locomotives as they are ******* in Railways sheds in Karachi and Lahore. Purchase of 69 sub-standard locomotives from China by spending billions of rupees was one of the initial mega corruption scandals against General Pervez Musharraf and his team.

However, vested interests succeeded to even get the present government fall in line and to award the contract of another 75 locomotives from the same Chinese company. “12 locomotives of 2,000 HP and 20 locomotives of 3,000 HP, all under warranty, have now been totally scrapped. There is no way that these could be used and a great loss has been inflicted on the national exchequer,” GM Shahid said.

He added: “The total cost of these locomotives has proved to be very high as these outdated engines have a very high maintenance cost. Whenever we want to change a very important device in the engine, a turbo super charger, it become out of order within two to three months because of inferior quality of the engine and causes unbearable loss to the locomotive itself.”

The senior Railways official revealed that 15 per cent advance amount has already been paid to the Chinese company and now a letter has been sent to them seeking a reply within 14 days regarding complete breakdown of the 32 locomotives costing Pakistan billions of rupees.


He said after receiving the reply of this letter proceedings to get back 15 per cent advance amount would be initiated. He said the Pakistan Railways needs sturdy and tough diesel engines as it runs services on long routes from Karachi to Peshawar which also include hilly areas.

The GM said the Pakistan Railways is in dire need of the engines otherwise the whole railway system was going to collapse. The Pakistan Railways procured 69 locomotives from China in 2001 which were technically approved by the then management of Pakistan Railways in spite of excessive axle load. These locomotives did not perform very well and had developed lot of major faults that caused huge revenue losses. The cracking of underframe of more than 9 locomotives of 3,000 HP in 2005 is one example.

The Railways officials say in spite of this bad performance the previous Railways administration committed serious violations of tender conditions, PPRA Rules and international competitive bidding procedures and awarded the contract of another 75 locomotives to China. The recommendations of technical committee were ignored wherein they had disqualified the Chinese proposal thrice due to non-compliance of relevant clauses.

Pakistan News Service - PakTribune

Again with the time tested and long lasting China-Pakistan relationship the Chinese are not going to provide Pakistan with substandard Locomotives and one cannot understand why the Chinese are failing to honour their "Warranty Obligation"

I am sure that the Chinese will refund the 15% advance amount paid subject to the actual agreement conditions i.e. whether an amount given by way of deposit can be refunded if the Pakistan Railways cancel the contract for the Chinese Locomotives.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

and being that the thread starter is a hindustany, he/she would tag a smiley icon to the topic


go figure

 

[sab]

and being that the thread starter is a hindustany, he/she would tag a smiley icon to the topic


go figure

Why should an Indian laugh on it. We also faces similar problems, may be not for engines but there are other cases. I think problem is in the tender procedure. As order is given to the lowest bidder quality is compromised. The Government should be very strict about the technical criteria to avoid this problems.

 

[Hutchroy]

Pakistan to get $500 mln from ADB for railways’ revival

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant a loan of $500 million to Pakistan for revival of its Railways department.

The loan, to be provided under the Railway Investment Development Plan of the government, is aimed at turning the flailing department into a profitable one.

Officials said the first installment of $120 million will be released next year while the remaining loan will be delivered in two installments until 2013.

The ADB has also approved a separate $1.5 million in technical aid which will be spent on procurement, preparation of roadmap, hiring of consultants and project implementation.

The final approval for the project will be given after a technical assistant for the railways submits a feasibility report to the bank by the end of the current year.

 

[Hyde]

well after suspending 102 railway routes i hope next year we don't see heavy losses -

Railways set to suspend operations of 102 trains
SAFDAR RASHEED
LAHORE (May 25 2010): In view of the poor financial health and recurring losses, Pakistan Railways is set to suspend running of 102 more passengers and freight trains causing Rs 5.631 billion yearly loss to the public sector transport. Business Recorder has learnt that a summary in this regard has been sent to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani for his approval.

Sources in the Pakistan Railways said that through this summary, Pakistan Railways has proposed to close down operations of 8 mail trains, 28 intercity and 66 passengers' trains. According to a document available with Business Recorder, 8 mail trains were causing Rs 1.361 billion annual financial losses to Railways.

These trains are: Tezrao Rs 188.4 million, Chiltan Express 156.3 million, Shalimar Express 74.4 million and Shah Rukn-e-Alam Rs 85.5 million. The 28 intercity trains were causing yearly Rs 1.416.4 billion revenue losses to railways.

The intercity trains running in losses are: Pakpattan Express Rs 77.4 million, Ravi Express Rs 44.0 million, Sargodha Express Rs 36.7 million, Rohi Express Rs 172.8 million, Sandal Express Rs 49.4 million, Tipusultan Express Rs 34.9 million, Mehran Express 62.0 million, Kotri Express 15.9 million, Saman Sarkar Express 13.4 million, Qalandar Express 63.7 million, Rohri Express 39.1 million, and Badin Express Rs 19.4 million.

Sources said that Pakistan Railways was facing revenue loss of Rs 16. 03.5 billion Every year by 66 passenger trains, therefore Railways authorities have decided to suspend all uneconomical passengers' trains It may be added the PR has already suspended operations of 16 passengers trains.

In the next phase, passengers trains, including Lahore Passenger, Babu Passenger, Peshawar Passenger, Attock Rawalpindi Passenger, Sibi Passenger, Kotri Passenger, Waris Shah Passenger, Okara Passenger, Wazirabad Narowal Passenger, Sakhi Abbas Passenger, Rawalpindi Passenger, Larkana Passenger, Quetta Chamman Passenger, Kasur Passenger, Bulleh Shah Passenger, Multan Passenger, Attock Passenger, Jand Passenger, Shoorkot Passenger, Sargodha Passenger and Sultan Bahu Passenger would also be suspended, Railways documents revealed.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[blackwater 007]

Why don't Pakistani's make locomotives in Pakistan. If they can make tanks, fighterjet and nuclear bomb why not locomotives??

 

[kugga]

Why don't Pakistani's make locomotives in Pakistan. If they can make tanks, fighterjet and nuclear bomb why not locomotives??

That's a very nice idea I think paksitan should start making its locomotives....

 

[deepak75]

There is also the option of purchasing the locomotives from India. Both countries run similiar train systems so Pakistan can be more assured of the locomotives performing up to desired levels. The gauge may be different but that is no problem because India also runs 3 different gauges.

Cost of transportation will be lower, the engines can be just railed across Atari in to Pakistan and they are ready to go!! On top of that, India will make sure that the quality going in to Pakistan has to be the best possible together with the Service Warranty (I will let you ask why if you want).

Also we will not put any manchurian chip in it (you can ask why again - I am holding my breath) but may be we can put Tandoori Chicken chip in the locos but that should not be a problem in Pakistan because they themselves know all about Tandoori Chicken....

But now that there is 500 Million USD coming in, China would like that to be added to its GDP. That is where most of the aid in the world lands up by the end of it anyway specially from brotherly countries who will never try to set up their own manufacturing and just continue to ask brother country China to increase its manufacturing and continue burgeoning the trade surplus....

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

General motors universal 30----or GMU 30 was one of the best diesel engines that pak railway ever had---you may still see it running somewhere---they were put into service in I believe 1973-1974---older than the majority of you people on this board.

When it comes to heavy duty diesel equipment---the u s is still the best bet---even thoug the GM diesel costs more---it is cheaper in the long run---the train runs on time---the people are happy---.

It wasn't the railways that went for the chinese engines---it was a political decision by some generals and politicians---GM tried real hard---it tried its influence through the u s embassy and through some senators---but we turned them a blind eye due to initial purchase cost---and we also wanted to punish a u s company at that time---we wanted to send U S a message that we could live without the american equipment----.

Oh guess what----the door has slammed right back in our faces.

Would you believe me now when I say that PAKISTANIS ARE NOT VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE----they are clever no doubt about---they are extremely sharp---but truly they are not intelligent.

REMEMBER QUALITY IS NEVER TOO EXPENSIVE.