Pakistan Railway Projects.

[ghazi52]

^^^
Pakistan and China agreed to execute the much-awaited mega ML-1 Pakistan Railway Up-gradation Project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on a priority basis.

The agreement was reached at a virtual held meeting between the CPEC Authority and the National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) of China to follow up on the decisions taken during the recent visit of the prime minister to China.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor and Director-General NDRC co-chaired the meeting. The ambassador of Pakistan in China also participated.

The meeting decided that Pakistan Railways would immediately contact the National Railway Administration (NEA) to work out further details of the project.

The meetings also discussed the schedule for holding of meetings of Joint Working Groups (JWG) for various sectors. It was decided that meetings of the Joint Working Groups for Industrial Cooperation, Information Technology, Science and Technology and Agriculture would be held in the near future.

The NDRC director-general said that the relevant Chinese institutions were already taking the necessary actions to implement the understandings reached during the visit.

The SAPM CPEC Affairs stated that the prime minister’s meeting with the Chinese leadership had been extremely fruitful and the relevant institutions of the two countries were fully geared to take the necessary steps to translate the understandings reached at the highest level into actual actions on the ground at the earliest.

The NDRC director general stated that the relevant Chinese institutions were already taking the necessary actions to implement the understandings reached during the visit. He said that the Chinese side attaches the utmost importance to the ML-1 project and several internal meetings between the National Railway Administration and other relevant institutions have been held to work out the modalities and prepare for execution of the first phase of the project.
^^>>>>

 

[khansaheeb]

.
Pakistan Railway Projects.

Sahiwal Railway Station upgradtion

Narrowal Railway Station upgradtion

Why is Pakistan railway going for the colonial architecture of the British Raj? The building should have a more modern and green architecture.

 

[FuturePAF]

^^^
Pakistan and China agreed to execute the much-awaited mega ML-1 Pakistan Railway Up-gradation Project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on a priority basis.

The agreement was reached at a virtual held meeting between the CPEC Authority and the National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) of China to follow up on the decisions taken during the recent visit of the prime minister to China.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor and Director-General NDRC co-chaired the meeting. The ambassador of Pakistan in China also participated.

The meeting decided that Pakistan Railways would immediately contact the National Railway Administration (NEA) to work out further details of the project.

The meetings also discussed the schedule for holding of meetings of Joint Working Groups (JWG) for various sectors. It was decided that meetings of the Joint Working Groups for Industrial Cooperation, Information Technology, Science and Technology and Agriculture would be held in the near future.

The NDRC director-general said that the relevant Chinese institutions were already taking the necessary actions to implement the understandings reached during the visit.

The SAPM CPEC Affairs stated that the prime minister’s meeting with the Chinese leadership had been extremely fruitful and the relevant institutions of the two countries were fully geared to take the necessary steps to translate the understandings reached at the highest level into actual actions on the ground at the earliest.

The NDRC director general stated that the relevant Chinese institutions were already taking the necessary actions to implement the understandings reached during the visit. He said that the Chinese side attaches the utmost importance to the ML-1 project and several internal meetings between the National Railway Administration and other relevant institutions have been held to work out the modalities and prepare for execution of the first phase of the project.
^^>>>>

I hope they keep a focus on building it to prioritize freight traffic so it can pay for itself, and only being secondarily a passenger line. For passengers, there are bus options at all price points, but we can’t afford to create white elephants that need subsidies. We need a revenue generating asset, not another black hole.

 

[Luosifen]

I hope they keep a focus on building it to prioritize freight traffic so it can pay for itself, and only being secondarily a passenger line. For passengers, there are bus options at all price points, but we can’t afford to create white elephants that need subsidies. We need a revenue generating asset, not another black hole.

You can look at the China-Laos high speed railway, it began operations last year and handles both passenger and freight, big economic boon for both countries with increased efficiency of travel and trade. It's a shame the ML-1 couldn't begin construction years ago so that it could be in operation today

 

[ghazi52]

,.

Pakistan railways ready to revamp centuries-old ‘coolie system'​

From developing application, providing digital armbands, government will register porters to facilitate perks

Anadolu Agency
March 26, 2022


LAHORE: Pakistan Railways is set to change the centuries-old traditions of porters being hired by private contractors because the practice was exploitative and extorting contracts in the form of bonded labor.

Coinciding with the World Railways Workers Day, celebrated March 27, the Chief Executive Railways Zafar Zaman Ranjha said: “The proposal that is titled ‘Madadgaars,’ that means a helping hand, is ready and will be presented to the authorities for the approval in coming days. Because the private contractor exploits the wages of the porters through different and difficult contracts.”

The history of the institution of a “coolie,” or porter, on the railways on the subcontinent, is still alive after hundred years.

Their services are extremely pivotal for passengers at railway stations because the trains are designated to certain platforms and due to the old network of stairs and bridges in the stations, passengers cannot carry heavy luggage from one platform to another.

“These railway stations are not upgraded as the railway stations in Europe or West. They have a history. These bridges and stairs are more than a hundred years old. The Lahore Railway station was made shortly after 1857 and was renovated over the period of time but its main skeleton was never changed, that’s why porters are the backbone of our facilitation to the passengers and they also deserve a good wage and better quality of life,” said Zaman.

The proposal to revamp the existing porter system in the railway network is modeled on Alfred Marshall’s renowned “Efficiency Wage Theory” which signifies that higher wages induce better service delivery.

Digitalization of porter system

Along with new policies, a web-based mobile application will also be launched that will provide a database of all authorized and registered Madadgaars at a station along with their photographs and a specified file for complaints.

“With all the updated features, people will be able to pre-book the Madadgaar before coming to the station and the approved charges will be paid to the Madadgaars for their services by the passengers that will save them time and also the Madadgaars could keep the track on their earnings,” Zaman told Anadolu agency.

New uniforms and a Madadgaar desk will be set up at stations. A GPS-based armband that could pinpoint the location of Madadgaars will be implemented and it will also record the conversation between the Madadgaar and the passenger.

Legacy of the porters

Muhammad Hanif, 85, came to the Lahore Railway station after partition and can still narrate stories of passengers who traveled on trains during the partition in 1947.

“I came to Lahore from district Karnal, Panipat India and I started working as a porter on this railway station when I was 15 years old. I have seen thousands of people reaching their destinations and millions of stories unfolding in front of my eyes. But I always wished that the government should do something for us,” said Hanif.

Welcoming the decision to digitalize the porters, Ashfaq Ahmed, representative of the porter’s union said, “Who does not want to earn a better livelihood? But it is too early to say anything about this digitalization.”

Salman Rashid, Pakistan’s renowned travel writer who traveled throughout his life via train, reminisced about the old and glorious time of railway workers and said: “The station master used to wear a crisp uniform. And the porters were young and vibrant in the 1960s and 1970s. With the passage of time, our quality of rail has decreased and for that, the government is only responsible.”

Railways until the late 2000s had marvelous dine-in bogies in which the staff used to serve freshly cooked food and trained waiters used to exchange trays of food from outside of the windows and doors of the moving trains.

“The government had one task to manage the already established railway system. The glorious Khyber mail even had showers installed in it and we used to dine-in in separate areas, but they did not do it right. We have to see what their new projects will be but cannot comment on them before time. But upgrading the system with the latest technology is the need of the hour,” said Rashid.

;'.;

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,.
Pakistan on Tuesday again requested China to consider financing the single largest China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project – the $6.8 billion Mainline-I (ML1) project – after the Railways Ministry disclosed that Beijing was not willing to fund the scheme due to objections over the approved cost.

The request was made by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal in a meeting with the Chinese Charge d’ Affairs to Pakistan Miss Pang Chunxue.

Iqbal also assured the Chinese diplomat that his government would resolve issues of a delay in payments of Rs300 billion to Chinese independent power plants (IPPs), which led to shutting down 1,980 megawatts generation capacity.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,.
Pakistan Railways plans to manufacture passenger coaches in the future through “technology transfer” from China at its Carriage Factory in Islamabad.

"To have its passenger coaches, Pakistan Railways is sending engineers and technical teams to China for world-class training," said Zafar Zaman Ranjha, Chairman Pakistan Railways, in a statement late Friday night, adding that the technology transfer will benefit Pakistan's economy in the future.

The Chairman further said that for the comfortable travel of passengers, Pakistan is purchasing 230 passenger coaches from China.

According to him, the company (CRRC Tangshan) which is supplying the coaches to Pakistan will bear the expenses of Pakistani engineers and the technical team. “The training of officers will not have any financial impact on the revenue budget of Pakistan Railways,” he added.

In November 2021, Pakistan Railways signed a contract with CRRC Tangshan Co., Ltd. to supply 230 high-speed passenger coaches to Pakistan. The passenger trains include 80 economic coaches and 80 air-conditioned standard trains and some lounge-type trains. The trains will run at 180km/h with wide-gauge bogies.

CRRC Tangshan Co., Ltd., which was built in 1881, is the first Chinese railway equipment manufacturing company.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,

PR team to inspect prototypes of Chinese coaches​

Khalid Hasnain
August 7, 2022


LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR), in near future, is all set to inspect prototype models of the state-of-the-art passenger coaches and high-capacity freight wagons it wants to procure from a leading Chinese company.

Several junior and senior officials will also travel to China soon where some of them will inspect the models (as per specifications, designs etc) and some will take part in training being organised by the Chinese firm as a part of two different contracts to transfer technology of manufacturing modern coaches in Pakistan, Dawn has learnt.

“Under $140 million contract (Rs31 billion approximately) awarded by Pakistan Railways, a Chinese company is liable to manufacture 230 state-of-the-art passenger coaches, out of which 46 will be provided to us in the form of completely built unit (CBU) and the remaining 184 will be manufactured here in Pakistan by our engineers and technical staff under supervision of the Chinese,” PR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) Abdul Haseeb explained while talking to Dawn on Saturday.

“The contract of procuring 800 wagons and 20 brake wagons is separate to this contract,” he added.

Officials will visit China for training as a part of technology transfer

The manufacturing of 184 coaches in Pakistan, according to him, is a part of the contract called “Transfer of Technology” after which the PR would not require any help from China for manufacturing of such rolling stock.

To a question, Mr Haseeb said, for the coaches planned to be manufactured in Pakistan (The PR Carriage Factory, Islamabad), the Chinese firm would be responsible to provide spare parts and raw material.

He said the officials proceeding to China included 18 for design inspection, 20 for other sorts of inspections and the rest for participating in the training related to transfer of technology.

According to another contract, the PR is set to procure as many as 800 high capacity wagons and 20 brake vans and a letter of credit has already been opened in March, this year.

 

[FuturePAF]

.,.,

PR team to inspect prototypes of Chinese coaches​

Khalid Hasnain
August 7, 2022


LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR), in near future, is all set to inspect prototype models of the state-of-the-art passenger coaches and high-capacity freight wagons it wants to procure from a leading Chinese company.

Several junior and senior officials will also travel to China soon where some of them will inspect the models (as per specifications, designs etc) and some will take part in training being organised by the Chinese firm as a part of two different contracts to transfer technology of manufacturing modern coaches in Pakistan, Dawn has learnt.

“Under $140 million contract (Rs31 billion approximately) awarded by Pakistan Railways, a Chinese company is liable to manufacture 230 state-of-the-art passenger coaches, out of which 46 will be provided to us in the form of completely built unit (CBU) and the remaining 184 will be manufactured here in Pakistan by our engineers and technical staff under supervision of the Chinese,” PR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) Abdul Haseeb explained while talking to Dawn on Saturday.

“The contract of procuring 800 wagons and 20 brake wagons is separate to this contract,” he added.


The manufacturing of 184 coaches in Pakistan, according to him, is a part of the contract called “Transfer of Technology” after which the PR would not require any help from China for manufacturing of such rolling stock.

To a question, Mr Haseeb said, for the coaches planned to be manufactured in Pakistan (The PR Carriage Factory, Islamabad), the Chinese firm would be responsible to provide spare parts and raw material.

He said the officials proceeding to China included 18 for design inspection, 20 for other sorts of inspections and the rest for participating in the training related to transfer of technology.

According to another contract, the PR is set to procure as many as 800 high capacity wagons and 20 brake vans and a letter of credit has already been opened in March, this year.

Any indication what type of passenger coaches they plan to procure and produce? Hopefully it will be coaches in the same category as the Amtrak Venture cars; able to go 200 kmph. If train travel times are shorter then bus travel times, the higher cost could be worth it for passengers and Pakistan railways to attract passengers making connections from airlines as well as domestic and international tourists. Passenger rail should no longer be seen as the cheapest form of transportation for intercity travel (that should be the domain of bus companies that can compete with each other). Rail should be a more premium product, so the railways can focus on freight and remaining profitable so they can self sustain themselves and fund their own expansion. To that end Pakistan Rail will also need land along the tracks to create its own SEZs; to maximize its share of national logistics such as agricultural products and export earning products like textiles.

Siemens Venture - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

But honestly, I hope they go for full train sets of the CR200J, so that once a section has been upgraded the train can full utilize its full speed.

Also, I hope Pakistan switches to standard gauge rail for all main lines. Should the train have a connection to Iran or China, there won’t be a need for change of gauge operations. Also it will prevent Indian forces from utilizing any of our railways in the event of an invasion scenario. Also, with a switch to standard gauge rail, Pakistan can buy from a lot more suppliers without having to adapt the trains to the south Asian rail gauge.

Main line 1 should be built from Karachi Northwards, so that it is prioritizing freight getting to world markets. If built on a business model, it can help the build out of the other main lines such as the one to Faisalabad (a major textile exporter) on a commercial basis. Also, a lot of the accidents over the past few years happened in Sindh and southern Punjab, especially near Rohri. Areas of high accidents should get top priority.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,
Investors from Oman have expressed their keen interest in investment in Pakistan’s Railway Infrastructure Development and Power projects.

A delegation of Omani investors, under the chairmanship of Al Anvwar Asian Investments, Dr. Anwar Al Balushi, met with Minister for Board of Investment Chaudhary Salik Hussain in Islamabad and informed him about their possible investment.

The delegation expressed their interest in the construction of a 1,087-kilometer-long rail track from Gwadar to Jacobabad, Sindh.

Anvwar Asia Investment Company, which is renowned as a top global facilitator in project financing, also signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with Pakistan Railways. It was assisted by Railcop, which prepared a feasibility report of the project.

Media reported that after a comprehensive discussion, the Pakistan Railways decided to sign an agreement with an investment company from Oman, this week, under which the firm will provide initial funding of $500 million for the construction of railway tracks.

 

[Luosifen]

 

[ghazi52]

Coaches in China ready to dispatch to Pakistan...

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,.
Pakistan Railways would receive first batch of as many as 50 new coaches from China to upgrade current rolling stock and provide modern facilities to the passengers in December.

"Out of total 230 coaches around 50 will be provided as completely built units and the remaining 184 to be manufactured in the county by the department's engineers and technical staff under the supervision of the Chinese experts," an official told APP on Monday.

He said the coaches would have the capacity to run at the train's speed of 160 kilometers per hour and the teams of Pakistan Railways were in China for the inspection of the prototypes of the coaches as well as the modern high-capacity wagons.

The official said the experts of China were also proving training to the technical staff of Pakistan Railways on manufacturing of such rolling stock.

He said Pakistan Railway was planning to upgrade the dilapidated track as the Khanpur-Kotri section was not fit for high-speed train operation while most of the Main Line-I (ML-I) parts were fit for the 120km per hour train operation..

 

[ghazi52]

,.,..

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,
Pakistan Railways (PR) and Chinese mechanical engineers are in the process of manufacturing 34 locomotive engines worth Rs1.5 billion at the Mughalpura railway workshop in Lahore.

Instead of importing the engines, which would have come at a cost of Rs15 billion, around three locomotives are being manufactured each month until all of them are set to be rolled out by next year, sources said.

The engines will be in service on the Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Quetta sections.

It is estimated that the engines can be used for freight and passenger trains for the next 11 years.

According to the sources, all these locomotive engines were imported from China in 2014 and a contract was signed with the Chinese company for the maintenance of these engines in 2017.

However, due to some reasons, the project was delayed. “But now that the situation has improved, work on the restoration of these engines has started in right earnest”.

They said by August 2023, a total of 34 locomotives will become fully part of the train operations.

“PR mechanical engineers and Chinese engineers are working together with the workshop staff in shifts,” the sources shared and said that the workers are equipped with modern technology which is low-cost and environment-friendly...