Caterpillar to provide 60 Diesal Electrc Locomotives for Pakistan Railways

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Learn from China
Former Chinese rail minister given suspended death sentence | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia

BEIJING - A Chinese court on Monday gave former railways minister Liu Zhijun a suspended death sentence for corruption and abuse of power, state media report.

Liu was accused of accepting bribes totalling over 64m yuan ($10m) over 25 years.

Prosecutors said he awarded government rail contracts in return for bribes.

Liu is the most high-profile official to be tried and found guilty of corruption since Xi Jinping became China's leader earlier this year.

Xi has called for a crackdown on corruption, vowing to tackle it from the powerful "tigers" at the top to the "flies" at the bottom of the Communist Party.

China's railways ministry, once a powerful department, was disbanded in March.

It had been criticised for a series of safety scandals, and faced allegations of fraud which were uncovered by government audits.

Liu was convicted by a court in Beijing on Monday, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, deprived of his political rights for life and jailed for 10 years, Xinhua said, quoting the court verdict. His personal property will also be confiscated.

Despite his sentence, he is not expected to face the death penalty - suspended death sentences are normally commuted to life imprisonment in China.

Liu was suspended from the Communist Party last May, following allegations that he embezzled funds and received bribes when handing out contracts for China's high-speed rail project.
- See more at: Former Chinese rail minister given suspended death sentence | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia



We need rules like this to make PAKISTANI KHOPRI work

 

[shuntmaster]

The collapse of Pakistan Railways

The government – a major stakeholder in rail, road and air transport – needs to design an integrated transport policy where goods are enlisted for economical carriage. Pakistan also desperately requires a transport ministry to regulate and control the industry, similar to what is being done in the UK, India and other developing countries.
According to a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, transportation of one ton per kilometre by road will cost five times more than if it were carried by rail.
Despite losses, the rail network provides a comparatively safe, affordable and reliable mode of transportation to a significant portion of the country’s population. Pakistan Railways, a legacy of the colonial period, is also one of the largest employers.
The Pakistan Railways network has a total of 945 stations, approximately six kilometres apart, to meet operational, safety and communication requirements.
Till the 1970s, Pakistan Railways was a self-sustaining organisation run by an autonomous four-member policy forming Railway Board which constituted a Member Traffic, Member Mechanical, Member Civil and Member Finance. Apart from the nominee of the finance ministry, the other three were senior railway employees specialising in their respective fields – the chairman of the Pakistan Railways was also appointed from one of these three technical specialists at the discretion of federal government. A vice chairman, the fifth member, was an executive who oversaw daily administration.
In 1990, the government appointed an officer from the Civil Services of Pakistan chairman and from then on there has been a rapid decline not only in performance but also the balance sheet of the organisation.
Today, with an allocation of Rs13.63 billion in this year’s federal budget, Pakistan Railways is in dire financial straits, with scarcity of funds and serviceable locomotives to keep it on track. Transportation of goods, which previously constituted 40 per cent of its revenues, has been reduced to between 25 and 30 per cent.
It is presently being run by a non-functional board, one that mainly exists on paper and operates without any strategic planning mechanism. Furthermore, railway accounts are not subject to scrutiny by the Auditor General of Pakistan, a key factor for revenue and procurement pilferage.
A depreciation fund, which was meant for scheduled preventive repair and maintenance of locomotives, carriages and tracks, has been disbanded.
Till 1990, the carriage factory in Islamabad was exporting freight wagons and coaches to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in addition to meeting local requirements. Rather than augmenting this facility, the lure of kickbacks has resulted in its virtual shut down and orders were placed for import of carriages.
Although Moghaplura has facility to produce High Capacity (HC) wagons, the same were imported from China. These imported wagons have the handicap that they cannot ply on branch lines because of axle load limitations. Pakistan Railways had compatible locomotives from GE, Hitachi and other companies – all with different axle loads but compatible with the railway tracks. Our main line tracks have the capability of handling a load of 22 tons per axle, while branch lines can sustain 16.5 tons per axle.
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.
Yet another major source of pilferage is the sub-standard manufacturing outsourced to local contractors – most of these firms owned by front men of senior officers. The Chemist and Metallurgical Centre, responsible for testing and analysing raw materials and spares, boasts obsolete equipment.
Pakistan Railways is not a member of UIC, the international standards regulatory body and therefore cannot have access to their specifications and drawings, nor has railways upgraded their own systems, that could facilitate quality control of procurement.
At the end of the day, economics decides the fate of an industry and an integrated policy would benefit the national economy.

 

[Edevelop]

The collapse of Pakistan Railways

The government – a major stakeholder in rail, road and air transport – needs to design an integrated transport policy where goods are enlisted for economical carriage. Pakistan also desperately requires a transport ministry to regulate and control the industry, similar to what is being done in the UK, India and other developing countries.
According to a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, transportation of one ton per kilometre by road will cost five times more than if it were carried by rail.
Despite losses, the rail network provides a comparatively safe, affordable and reliable mode of transportation to a significant portion of the country’s population. Pakistan Railways, a legacy of the colonial period, is also one of the largest employers.
The Pakistan Railways network has a total of 945 stations, approximately six kilometres apart, to meet operational, safety and communication requirements.
Till the 1970s, Pakistan Railways was a self-sustaining organisation run by an autonomous four-member policy forming Railway Board which constituted a Member Traffic, Member Mechanical, Member Civil and Member Finance. Apart from the nominee of the finance ministry, the other three were senior railway employees specialising in their respective fields – the chairman of the Pakistan Railways was also appointed from one of these three technical specialists at the discretion of federal government. A vice chairman, the fifth member, was an executive who oversaw daily administration.
In 1990, the government appointed an officer from the Civil Services of Pakistan chairman and from then on there has been a rapid decline not only in performance but also the balance sheet of the organisation.
Today, with an allocation of Rs13.63 billion in this year’s federal budget, Pakistan Railways is in dire financial straits, with scarcity of funds and serviceable locomotives to keep it on track. Transportation of goods, which previously constituted 40 per cent of its revenues, has been reduced to between 25 and 30 per cent.
It is presently being run by a non-functional board, one that mainly exists on paper and operates without any strategic planning mechanism. Furthermore, railway accounts are not subject to scrutiny by the Auditor General of Pakistan, a key factor for revenue and procurement pilferage.
A depreciation fund, which was meant for scheduled preventive repair and maintenance of locomotives, carriages and tracks, has been disbanded.
Till 1990, the carriage factory in Islamabad was exporting freight wagons and coaches to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in addition to meeting local requirements. Rather than augmenting this facility, the lure of kickbacks has resulted in its virtual shut down and orders were placed for import of carriages.
Although Moghaplura has facility to produce High Capacity (HC) wagons, the same were imported from China. These imported wagons have the handicap that they cannot ply on branch lines because of axle load limitations. Pakistan Railways had compatible locomotives from GE, Hitachi and other companies – all with different axle loads but compatible with the railway tracks. Our main line tracks have the capability of handling a load of 22 tons per axle, while branch lines can sustain 16.5 tons per axle.
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.
Yet another major source of pilferage is the sub-standard manufacturing outsourced to local contractors – most of these firms owned by front men of senior officers. The Chemist and Metallurgical Centre, responsible for testing and analysing raw materials and spares, boasts obsolete equipment.
Pakistan Railways is not a member of UIC, the international standards regulatory body and therefore cannot have access to their specifications and drawings, nor has railways upgraded their own systems, that could facilitate quality control of procurement.
At the end of the day, economics decides the fate of an industry and an integrated policy would benefit the national economy.

WTH are you posting an article of 2010 ?

 

[jamesseo89]

This news is from 12 July.

On July 13th, it was announced that the plan to import was dropped and 58 Locomotives would be produced locally.

Plan to import locomotives dropped - thenews.com.pk

I think they should give chance to local engineers and experts to design the outer structure to make it aerodynamic and the rest would same technology of diesel electric in the engine.

I think we should study this technology so that we can also produce locally some diesel electric trucks and buses.

 

[Al Bhatti]

Learn from China
Former Chinese rail minister given suspended death sentence | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia

BEIJING - A Chinese court on Monday gave former railways minister Liu Zhijun a suspended death sentence for corruption and abuse of power, state media report.

Liu was accused of accepting bribes totalling over 64m yuan ($10m) over 25 years.

Prosecutors said he awarded government rail contracts in return for bribes.

Liu is the most high-profile official to be tried and found guilty of corruption since Xi Jinping became China's leader earlier this year.

Xi has called for a crackdown on corruption, vowing to tackle it from the powerful "tigers" at the top to the "flies" at the bottom of the Communist Party.

China's railways ministry, once a powerful department, was disbanded in March.

It had been criticised for a series of safety scandals, and faced allegations of fraud which were uncovered by government audits.

Liu was convicted by a court in Beijing on Monday, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, deprived of his political rights for life and jailed for 10 years, Xinhua said, quoting the court verdict. His personal property will also be confiscated.

Despite his sentence, he is not expected to face the death penalty - suspended death sentences are normally commuted to life imprisonment in China.

Liu was suspended from the Communist Party last May, following allegations that he embezzled funds and received bribes when handing out contracts for China's high-speed rail project.
- See more at: Former Chinese rail minister given suspended death sentence | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia



We need rules like this to make PAKISTANI KHOPRI work

Our complete parliament and all the politicians will either run away form Pakistan for good or they all will be in 5 star jail like Tauqeer

 

[takeiteasy]

may be inter city tourist bus mafia will be interfering with train services like they do in India(eg:Bangalore-Kerala where train services are low despite very high demand).
if so, outsource train services to this bus operators

 

[QADRI]

Sath main drivers ko rolex watches bhi de do ta k time pe bhi le ain iss engine ko

 

[indian_foxhound]

Dude 1 locomotive = 1 train.... correct me if im wrong..

Anyways as cb4 pointed out ... the plan is dropped n now we will manufacture them locally.... at the risalpur factory.. which has been running into losses... producing only 100+ locomotives since 93(when it was set up with japanese assistance).... the factory is being converted into a modern state of the art locomotive manufacturing factory and is being lease to a private company...

no two engine means 1 train... up and down... I hope you got it now.. one trin will each wil start from both the ends. so it can match daily routine. ...

 

[indian_foxhound]

It depends on the type of train and its load Sir. Some trains can be up to 3,000 meters long and have up to 7 locomotives, three at the front, and two in the middle and back, when carrying heavy goods over mountains.

I dont think these engines will require extra engins because these engins are the most powerful engin every bulit till now.... so 600 to 900metr train or 1700 luggage train... but in montan I guess you need one xtra..I guess btw 6,000 hp (4,470 kW) is hell lots of power.

 

[Gentelman]

Oh it is very easy:

Don't replace the engine oil during servicing and sell the new oil on the market. Adulterate the diesel fuel with water and used oil to make up the volume to sell the pilfered diesel. Don't replace filters and then poke holes or remove them when they get clogged. Damage or remove sealing gaskets due to lack of care.

Viola: Brand new engine destroyed in a short time.

We will need more engines soon. Let the next round of commissions begin!

you just explained and got so much thanks and the boy with basic idea got nothing……
maybe gender too counts……
well what we really need is good wishes and a lot of prayers for every field in Pakistan……

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

samjha karo sirji its about commisions and love towards india + we dont give soft loans

Abay ghattia insaan... read post no.21 .... the locomotives will bought from local firm...

 

[Brahmos_2]

Dimagh kharab na kar bay!

Please translate

 

[M.harris]

samjha karo sirji its about commisions and love towards india + we dont give soft loans

No the real reason is that indian products are very cheap in quality. and are not reliable.

 

[indian_foxhound]

No the real reason is that indian products are very cheap in quality. and are not reliable.

lol... if dont have knowledge then dont speak BS india producing 2nd most powerfull engins which is running all over india on the world longest railway line.. correct me if I m wrong. .. and about maintain n quality well I have to say a indian engine required less maintance then this catapilar engines.. we have good number of advance rail engine. . please do google before posting such brain washed BS

bhai agar shakal achhe nahi hai to kam se kam baten to achhi ker hi sakte ho ye kya zuban hai apki bbat kerne ki



he he he are u sure well for your information indian locos are known for there tough and take anything build and are pretty sucsessful in india onli thing is they look very ugli

i dont think its ugly

 

[indian_foxhound]

rajdhani engine the most powerfull and advance engine... dont judge book by cover