By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
The Pakistan Railways have confirmed having received first
consignment of five locomotives out of 58 ordered with China .
The five locomotives, each of 3000 horse power, were
unloaded at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) on April 7.
These would be inducted into the system after initial tests
and used for operation of freight trains, Divisional Railways officials
informed PNFS on the occasion.
Presently the Pakistan Railways has been operating, on an
average, three to four freight trains on daily basis and their frequency is
likely to increase with the induction of the new locomotives.
The Karachi Railways Division operated 100 freight trains
during the month of March, after a halt of freight operation for three years
when it came to stand still due to non-availability of locomotives, resulting
in a big revenue loss to the organization.
Each freight train is today generating revenue of 2.5 to 3
million rupees and according to sources the Karachi Railways Division earned
revenue of Rs 300 million during March 2014.
“We have the demand and the capacity to carry freight with
availability of wagons and arrival of new locomotives and their induction into
the system will certainly provide a boost to the freight operation resulting in
an increase in the frequency of freight trains, the Railway sources stated.
