Railways not too keen on giving locos to Pakistan - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The railways is reluctant to accede to Pakistan's request for sale or lease of 100 diesel locos due to its own shortage of engines.
A Railway Board official gave voice to the reluctance when he said, "Why should India give an impetus to the Pakistani economy?"
Indian Railways is hamstrung by an acute shortage of its own loco fleet. The state-run transporter has 4,214 electric and 6,000 diesel engines in its inventory. Around 500 engines are produced annually by its two public sector manufacturing units but the public transporter is still unable to meet its domestic demand, pegged around 700 locos every year.
Islamabad was forced to look eastwards to source locos after the ones provided by its all-weather friend China turned out to be duds, failing to deliver the goods and being incompatible with Pakistani broad gauge tracks. Chinese railways operate on standard gauge. The Pakistanis also blamed lack of support from Chinese suppliers for their woes.
Railway authorities, though not too keen on the deal, realize that the decision may not be theirs after all and will be taken at a higher political level, given the diplomatic ramifications.
Pakistan Railways, once a lifeline of the country, has run into bad times. According to sources, only 76 of the 520 locos in the Pakistan Railways were operational in March 2012. The crippling shortage of locos has forced Pakistan Railways to suspend scores of passenger trains besides scaling down freight operations.
In case the deal goes through, the railways is exploring options like lease or sale of new engines (WDM3 type) to be produced next year, or the rehabilitated (existing WDM2 type) ones. Authorities are also looking at the possibility of supplying locos from the old working fleet.
The public transporter will also insist on Pakistani commitments on a simplified visa process and diplomatic immunity for Indian technical staff who need to be deputed across the border for maintenance works. Besides, Pakistan will also need to facilitate smooth flow of supply of spare parts from India.
NEW DELHI: The railways is reluctant to accede to Pakistan's request for sale or lease of 100 diesel locos due to its own shortage of engines.
A Railway Board official gave voice to the reluctance when he said, "Why should India give an impetus to the Pakistani economy?"
Indian Railways is hamstrung by an acute shortage of its own loco fleet. The state-run transporter has 4,214 electric and 6,000 diesel engines in its inventory. Around 500 engines are produced annually by its two public sector manufacturing units but the public transporter is still unable to meet its domestic demand, pegged around 700 locos every year.
Islamabad was forced to look eastwards to source locos after the ones provided by its all-weather friend China turned out to be duds, failing to deliver the goods and being incompatible with Pakistani broad gauge tracks. Chinese railways operate on standard gauge. The Pakistanis also blamed lack of support from Chinese suppliers for their woes.
Railway authorities, though not too keen on the deal, realize that the decision may not be theirs after all and will be taken at a higher political level, given the diplomatic ramifications.
Pakistan Railways, once a lifeline of the country, has run into bad times. According to sources, only 76 of the 520 locos in the Pakistan Railways were operational in March 2012. The crippling shortage of locos has forced Pakistan Railways to suspend scores of passenger trains besides scaling down freight operations.
In case the deal goes through, the railways is exploring options like lease or sale of new engines (WDM3 type) to be produced next year, or the rehabilitated (existing WDM2 type) ones. Authorities are also looking at the possibility of supplying locos from the old working fleet.
The public transporter will also insist on Pakistani commitments on a simplified visa process and diplomatic immunity for Indian technical staff who need to be deputed across the border for maintenance works. Besides, Pakistan will also need to facilitate smooth flow of supply of spare parts from India.
