$100m locomotives (made in China) can’t run in Pakistan

$100m locomotives can’t run in Pakistan

By Maryam Hussain

ISLAMABAD: An inquiry team constituted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to investigate a $100million deal for the purchase of 69 locomotives from China has confirmed that top bosses of Pakistan Railways sanctioned the purchase even though the trains are too heavy for Pakistan’s railway tracks.

The 3,000-horsepower locomotives weigh 140 tonnes, but local tracks can withstand only up to 132 tonnes of weight and so the trains cannot be operated in Pakistan.

The deal with the Chinese firms, with suppliers credit of $100 million, was signed when General (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi was railways minister. Another retired general, Saeedul Zafar, was then chairman of Pakistan Railways and secretary at the Ministry of Railways.

The deal caused uproar in the Senate and after detailed discussions in the Public Accounts Committee, Prime Minister Aziz set up a team to investigate. The prime minister had originally asked former railways minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh to head the investigation team, but he declined. Dr Akram Sheikh, the deputy chairman for planning and development, was then appointed head of the investigating committee. The committee has reportedly finished its report and will soon submit its findings to the prime minister.

The disclosure that top railways bosses had sanctioned the deal despite the locomotives being unfit for Pakistani rail track came at the second meeting of the inquiry team. Railways Secretary Shakeel Durrani, Finance Member Javed Akthar Sheikh, Locomotives Managing Director Asad Saeed and Finance Ministry officials also attended the meeting.

According to documents made available to Daily Times, Dr Akram Sheikh was shocked when he was informed that railways bosses had not realised that the locomotives could not work on local tracks. Railways Secretary Durrani informed Sheikh that the Chinese locomotives could operate at a speed of 105-110 km per hour. However, from the operational point of view, this was not feasible since the railways system is not fit for trains operating at high speed.