Re: Pakistan likely to import railway engines from India
Though judicial system under SC is very honest!!
You are not kidding. Who is more corrupt than police, customs, incometax, army etc. PR comes at the the bottom of corruption. Why not police, customs, incometax, army being closed? Do you know how much locomotive costs at present? One locomtove cost one billion ruppees. If you buy 150 defective locomotives, 150 billions loss incurred immidiately. The losses due to poor service and heavy maintenance are in billions, in addition to that. It is the policy decisions that make the difference. Do you think there is no corruption in Indian railways? You should do your homework and research properly before you jump to any conclusion.
Regarding using of used oil, the report is un-reliable and can not trusted. However for your information recycled used oil is being used all over the world that is not a new phenomenon. Talk to some railway person to enhance your limited knowledge on this highly technical subject.
Read the followng report.
The collapse of Pakistan Railways
**Former president Pervez Musharraf appointed General Javed Ashraf the railway minster, General Saeed the chairman and General Hamid Butt the general manager of manufacturing and services, all of whom had no prior experience in railways.
They imported from China ‘Group 1’ locomotives with axle load of 23 Tons per axle, although the limitation was 22 tons per axle. Similarly, orders were placed for ‘Group 3’ locomotives with loads of 19.3 tons – while the limitation was 17.5 tons per axle.
A special dispensation was issued by the Railways allowing their operation on sections where it could prove dangerous and this is still in force. This has led to numerous accidents and loss of precious lives.
Trials conducted on Chinese Group 3 locomotives revealed that while their fuel consumption was higher the hauling power was much less than the specifications listed jointly by the manufacturers. Their performance was worse than the existing 30 to 40 year old locomotives.
The 64 Chinese locomotives, based on vintage Russian technology, had an additional impact for spare parts procurement valued at $15 million annually, making them the most expensive locomotives ever procured by Railways. Earlier, the annual allocation for maintenance and repair would never exceed $10 million for the total fleet of 530 locomotives.
More recently, in 2009-2010, an additional order for 75 brand new locomotives has been placed with the same Chinese middleman Dong Feng Trading House (DFTH) and Mishan Locomotives Works, the manufacturer.
As if this was not enough, 200 passenger carriages at an exorbitant cost are also being procured, although the same could be manufactured by the factory in Islamabad with imported raw material.**
Please read these comments also.
Mir Tassadaq
Sep 20, 2010 - 2:34PM
Reply
Can somebody explain why 3 corrupt generals, with absolutely no knowledge or experience in railways were allowed to go and order procurement of defective engines from China, which only led to several accidents and deaths of hundreds. It is not that China does not have the technology to manufacture good locomotives, but the fact that illwill and deceit of those assigned to procure engines resulted in this highly defective purchase. In the process the poor masses are suffering. Since these 3 thugs evaded any accountabilty and pocketed millions of dollars in kickbacks, it only encouraged the present government to order 75 more locomotives through the same middleman and from trhe same manufacturer, of ill-repute. This shows how institutionalised coruption is in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of prime real estate belonging to Pakistan Railways have been doled out to individuals for commercial use. One such example is the club located in Lahore on the previous Railway Golf Club to a party, which has minted billions in the process. All this railway land could have been auctioned to generate enough funds to overcome the operational losses and still have enough reserves for replacement of old locomotives. It is shocking that the Islamabad Carriage Factory is lying unutilized by this mafia, which has the backing of every government, be it elected or unelected.Recommend
*
Aman
Sep 20, 2010 - 3:48PM
Reply
it is really a pitty, Govt must contirbute its maximum to resolve the railway problemsRecommend
*
Shumaila S Khanzada
Sep 20, 2010 - 8:53PM
Reply
It is a pity that after so many years of independence we as a nation have not been able to develop an important infrastructure like railways..
It is unbelievable that there is no quality control department. The most surprising fact is that we have been spending money in the purchase of locomotives not in sync with our available axle load??? Wrong decisions not taken once but repeatedly, why? Is there no one to intervene and stop this? To me it appear that these decisions are being taken with the knowledge of all…
The money is being wasted for the purchase of passenger carriers when the same can be manufactured locally? How conveniently the money of poor nation is being wasted….
Our elected government has been openly blaming past government for all our sufferings today and promises to bring gradual change, my question is that do they intend to bring change by making the same mistakes on a much larger scale??? Why the order was given to the same manufacturers by this government? ??? The Government owe an explanation to the NATIONRecommend
*
Cheema
Sep 20, 2010 - 9:58PM
Reply
It is the tax payer that funds Pakistan Railway ,PIA and NLC, So why not put all these transport entities under the control of one roof, a Ministry for Transportation, so that an economic enlisting of goods for transportation is evolved. In any case politicians with absolutely no technical background should avoid getting involved in procurement of engineering products with specifications and limitations such as locomotives, airplanes, oil tankers and trucks. Railways should be kept running because it is an essential logistic, which is required for national security and economical transportation.Recommend
*
Shakeel S Khanzada
Sep 20, 2010 - 10:52PM
Reply
Is it really hard to believe that in the present regime of PPP government, a political party whose founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s admiration for technocrats is still appreciated among think tanks of all ages, one of the most technical organizations of Pakistan Railways like many others is being run by money makorats instead of technocrats? No obviously its not, as it has become more of a competition than a norm for our rulers and governments to “Kaam Bachao Paise Banao”. Such a mind set of our so called leaders if not refuted at this stage then a day is not far away when the fate of entire Pakistan will not be much different than that of Pakistan Railways, and all its natural resources would either remain unutilized like Islamabad Carriage Factory or would vanish in a corrupt deal like above mentioned locomotives procurement deal.Recommend
*
mariam tauqeer
Sep 21, 2010 - 10:10AM
Reply
a very good article. its about time that the government pays heed to the railways as well!Recommend
*
mariam tauqeer
Sep 21, 2010 - 10:22AM
Reply
a very good article, its about time the government pays heed to the railways!!Recommend
*
Ahad
Sep 21, 2010 - 1:23PM
Reply
Railways suffers not because of lack of passengers or freight, but corruption at the top, especially during the last ten years, in procurement deals. One of the key robbers responsible during Mush era is sitting in the Senate alongwith the man who is responsible for all the ills during past 2 years. The issue is why is the government sitting idle while the state and its exchequer is being plundered. The NLC is another factor. If only the freight was carried by rail, the 11,000 ISAF containers supposed to be for NATO could never have disappeared. It is the poor people of Pakistan, who have been robbed of their transport, while those who robbed it are either living comfortably in Europe, USA, Gulf and Canada or their ill-gotten assets are located there. If the government has the political will than they can catch them just as Hamesh Khan has been caught.Recommend
*
Mureed Abbas Bhutta
Sep 22, 2010 - 11:27AM
Reply
Much informative and a road map for restoration of “Public Transport” Rail.Recommend
*
azher
Sep 26, 2010 - 10:48AM
Reply
solution to all these problems is apointments on merit.if gov’t have appointed the chairmen’s of karachi stealmill,railway,PIA on merit instead of these foolish generals,these problems have never been occoured. untill and unless govt will not apoint charted accountants on these key positions these departments will never perform.For these key posts govt should call world wide resume and peoples should be apointed on merit. feasibilities should be made for future restructuring of these departments from international economic firms. slowly railway should be privatized.workers should be given golden hakehand.this will be only one time expense. if the same railway should be sold to privat owner with in 6 months he will start making money,it means railway is profit making department rather loss making. Motorway police, NADRA and passport office is run by good governce (Transparancy International report2009), these are all pakistani peoples then why other departments can not run likewise.
