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How long do trains wait at each station? How fast are baggage cars loaded and unloaded at each station?,.,.
Pakistan Railways receives first batch of high-speed rail coaches from China
November 28, 2022
KARACHI: Pakistan Railways on Sunday received the first 46 out of 230 new high-speed passenger coaches from China.
The new rail coaches reached Karachi port and will be transported to Lahore by the Karachi-Lahore main line-1 by end of this month, the authorities said.
Pakistan and China’s CRRC Tangshan Locomotive & Rolling Stock Company inked an agreement in November 2021 for the supply of 230 high-speed coaches to Pakistan Railways as part of a plan to upgrade and enhance long-distance passenger services in the country.
The PR spokesperson said that passenger rail coaches will include 80 compartments each for economy and air-conditioned class, 30 parlour cars, and 20 vans each for luggage and brake.
Two hundred freight vans will be imported, while 620 of such bogies will be prepared at the factory, he added.
Under $140 million contract (Rs31 billion, approximately), the Chinese company is to manufacture 230 state-of-the-art passenger coaches, of which 46 will be provided as completely built units and the remaining 184 will be manufactured in Pakistan by the PR engineers and technical staff under the supervision of the Chinese experts.
It merits mentioning that the PR is working to upgrade the dilapidated track (ML-1) as the Khanpur-Kotri section is not fit for high-speed train operation.
A very good walkthrough and review. These stations should be rebuild so they can start generating more revenue as shopping centers and hotels, which can fund railway operations and maintenance.,..,
Kenyan model is turned out to be a white elephant. i travelled on it a few times; it is pretty much empty. There was no incentive for the goods to be transported; then a knee jerk reaction to clamp down on trucking so that people would use the train for transportation. SGR has been a disaster for entire region and saddled it with debt.Upgrading of Mainline 1, if done in the Chinese model, may look like look how Kenyan Standard gauge railway in terms of how the stations will be re-designed and operated as well as how service is probably done on board the train. The Pakistani trains will be faster at a top speed of 160 kmph compared to the Kenyan trains at a top speed of 120 kmph.
Except in Pakistan’s case, a lot of the stations have been recently upgraded, so changes will probably be around ticketing, food service on board, security screening, etc.
Also, building out metro-bus or metro-train connections to the railway stations will ease travel and the station to each city and its airports and bus terminals for ease and affordability of travel.
Btw, there should perhaps be an app that has a QR code so tourist don’t have to fill out forms at each place they go to, including checking in at hotels.
What Pakistan can improve on the SGR, if the trains run on time, is ending the cooking on board and shifting the production of food to each station along the route, with passengers order food from an attendant and having that food be delivered on board when the train arrives in the station. It will be a good way to also “up-sell” passengers for better meals and allow the railways to get some of the profit from the food, while maximizing the number of passengers they carry.
Kenyan model is turned out to be a white elephant. i travelled on it a few times; it is pretty much empty. There was no incentive for the goods to be transported; then a knee jerk reaction to clamp down on trucking so that people would use the train for transportation. SGR has been a disaster for entire region and saddled it with debt.
Here in Tanzania, we are doing the same - instead of upgrading the existing lines - where there was slack capacity, they decided to put a lot of billions into SGR - the concept is good but from ROI and getting all on board is a difficult preposition.
Rail transport is non existent; there is now attempt to establish SGR for entire great lakes - connecting Rwanda/Uganda/Kenya/Tanzania. Due to mismanagement and corruption; there was just no interest given to existing railways e.g. Tazara which links Tanzania to Zambia. Once we can upgrade and establish proper values from goods/passenger, there is a lot of opportunity.That’s why many countries give the railways land around the stations to lease out the land to develop or directly rent out hotels, apartments, restaurants, dry ports, special economic zones, etc. as in Japan. These business subsidies the railways. The railways are always loss leaders, not intended to turn a profit, unless overcoming a major transportation bottleneck.
Perhaps if the railway extended to West Africa, it could outcompete trucking, so that goods and time sensitive items such as food could pay for rail shipping or trucking.
What is the state of road transport between East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) and West Africa?
I agree that the nation shouldn’t have to bear the costs of the railway, but a private company, that has to convince customers to use their services over trucking, like a private freight railway or publicly traded railway company. The only problem could be that these investors may also not see the ROI within the desired time frame and decide not to invest. That is why government is usually have to invest in the initial section and find a way to make it profitable to get investor interest. Isn’t their a rail safari in Kenya? What are the unique business ventures in Tanzania to try to make the line profitable?
What’s the situation in Chad? If a train can go from Sudan through Chad to Nigeria, it can bypass lost of the Francophone countries. The Ethiopian Railway can be then connected with Sudan (it’s already connected with Djibouti and its port) and via Ethiopia go to Kenya and Tanzania.Rail transport is non existent; there is now attempt to establish SGR for entire great lakes - connecting Rwanda/Uganda/Kenya/Tanzania. Due to mismanagement and corruption; there was just no interest given to existing railways e.g. Tazara which links Tanzania to Zambia. Once we can upgrade and establish proper values from goods/passenger, there is a lot of opportunity.
You must remember, the distance and geographical not to mention political nonsense we have between west africa (francophone - who are completely controlled via Paris) and anglophone countries; French will screw any attempt to improve economic situation of their former colonies unless it is from Paris - which means let the status quo remain; this will change as we are seeing in Mali which kicked out the French; similarly in Rwanda where they have abolished French totally and joined the rest of the east african community.
Couple things I noticed here. The coaches don't seem air conditioned. I only see ugly fans sticking out. I wonder if that's just for economy class or first class as well. Secondly, its written on these coaches that its capable of running at speeds of upto 160km/h. Currently that's not possible and it only hints that these same coaches will be used once the multi-billion dollar upgrade of tracks are completed which frankly speaking is pretty disappointing because I was hoping they would convert the tracks to standard gauge and electrify the whole system as part of the upgrade