More problems with KiwiRail's Chinese-made trains have been revealed.
A KiwiRail document obtained by Radio New Zealand said the alternator cooling fan on several DL Locomotives which came into service in the past two years was found to be defective.
Twenty of the locomotives have been put into service and more will soon be added to the fleet.
In one case, cracking to fan blade welds led to the blade breaking away and lodging in protective screens.
Rail staff are warned not to occupy the alternator compartment, or have the doors open to that area, when the engine is on.
KiwiRail says the issue is being rectified by the manufacturer under warranty.
It says the necessary preventative work was quickly completed on all affected locomotives and has not affected freight operations in any way.
However the company has admitted the new Chinese made locomotives are breaking down twice as often as the others in the fleet.
Freight operations general manager Aaron Templeton says there are often teething problems with new rolling stock.
"We believe that DL locomotives are no different to any other locos in that regard."
He says at the moment they are about 50% less reliable than the rest of the fleet, but that is a significant improvement on four or five months ago.
The locomotive problem follows issues with Chinese-made rail wagons, including the brakes on all 500 needing to be replaced before entering service.
KiwiRail said it had carried out work to replace the brakes after initial tests showed fully loaded wagons failed stop within a specified distance.
Mr Templeton said some problems are to be expected when introducing new rolling stock. The the wagons were performing well and had travelled more than 26 million kilometres, he said.
New Zealand First transport spokesperson Brendan Horan says the problems are unacceptable.
10 refurbished locomotives: NLC, Korean Rail ink $11.11mn deal
National Logistics Cell (NLC) and Korean Rail (KORAIL) on Friday signed $11.11 million agreement for the purchase of 10 refurbished (GMU-30) locomotives to be used for freight operation.
NLC and KORAIL have been negotiating for the purchase/sale of refurbished GMU-30 locomotives since October 2010 that culminated in the finalisation of the agreement. As per agreement KORAIL will provide the type of locomotives already held on the inventory of Pakistan Railways (PR), except for different gauge i.e Standard vs Broad gauge.
KORAIL will overhaul these locomotives and change the gauge to suit to PR track requirements. Spare Parts for two years maintenance are also being procured.
The locomotives will be delivered CIF Karachi within 10 months of opening of L/C and the payments will be as 20 percent advance and 80 percent on delivery of locomotives through L/C.
KORAIL will also detail a maintenance and supervisory consultancy team comprising of five engineers for two years at an additional cost of $1.4 million. The locomotives will have a warranty for two years. NLC will establish its workshop facilities in coordination with PR for maintenance of these locomotives.
According to the agreement KORAIL will hand over these locomotives after a test run over 1250 kms (Karachi-Lahore) and will provide performance warranty bond for 5 percent of contract price. KORAIL will be phasing out 46 locomotives during next year and NLC intends to acquire more locomotives from KORAIL based on the experience after this deal. According to the official sources, NLC is planning to strengthen it’s freight operations especially for goods in transit for Afghanistan as well as inland freight operations.
According to the terms of the agreement these locomotives are same type of locomotives, held on the inventory of PR, except for different gauge i.e Standard vs Broad gauge. KORAIL will also dispatch a team of 5 engineers under Maintenance and Supervisory Consultancy Team to Pakistan for a period of two years and this would cost Pakistan $1.4 million additionally. These locomotives would have a warranty for two years. NLC will establish it’s workshop facilities in coordination with Pakistan railways for maintenance of these locomotives
GE, UP herald 5,000th Evolution Series locomotive
GE Transportation Friday announced the rollout of the 5,000th Evolution Series Locomotive, in production since since 2005.
The company says the Evolution Series is GE's "most successful global locomotive platform serving railroads in North and South America, Australia, Africa, and Asia."
The 5,000th unit was delivered to Union Pacific under the road number 7964. The locomotive will be featured in the Denver Post Cheyenne Frontier Days event that is part of the UP's 150th anniversary celebration, with UP steam locomotive No. 844 on the point, followed by GE Transportation's 5,000th Evolution Series diesel electric locomotive.
Dick Hartman, UP director of Public Affairs in Colorado and Wyoming, said ,"We are proud to continue to be a part the Frontier Days celebration by pulling such a historic passenger special with the legendary steam locomotive No. 844 along the northern Colorado Front range."
GE Transportation President and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said, "The delivery of 5,000EvolutionSeriesLocomotivesis a historic milestone for GE Transportation. The Evolution Series Locomotive is GE's most successful global locomotive platform contributing to sustainable infrastructure growth around the world. The Evolution Series has significantly improved hauling capability while reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. We are also proud to share in this historical eventwith the Union Pacific Railroad to celebrate 150 years of rail service excellence in the United States."
GE Transportation says the Evolution Series reduces emissions by more than approximately 40% compared with previous GE models.
GE Transportation is a division of Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co.
PR loco average age crosses 33 years
The Senates Standing Committee on Pakistan Railways on Thursday was informed that budgetary deficit of Rs 40.46 billion is anticipated by end of 2012-13.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Abdul Ghafoor Haidri.
Briefing the committee, PR Secretary Arif Azeem said that railways is in a dilapidated condition due to non-availability of financial assistance. The PR has pending liabilities amounting to Rs 5 billion and it has low cash reserves. The available locomotives have average age of 33 years while in rest of the world this is about 20 years. More than 55 percent track is overage, 70 percent of freight wagons are low-capacity and 86 percent of bridges are more than 100 years old. The secretary also told the committee that signalling system of PR is mostly obsolete. About railway police, he said it is under-strength and under-equipped.
Azeem further said earning up to June 20, 2012 was Rs 14.92 billion as compared to Rs 18.04 billion during the same period last year. Persistent inability to pay salaries, pension, fuel and electricity bills and discharge other obligatory expenses. The federal government provided Rs 2.1 billion per month for payment of salaries and pension of about 95,000 employees.
The ministry has planned short-term solution to keep PR on functional condition. It plans rationalisation of services including stoppage of uneconomical routes, repair of old locomotives on war footing and reactivate Pakistan Railway Board, which held three meeting recently. Keeping in view these measures, we expect that PR revenue would likely increase to Rs 14.1 billion in 2011-12 and Rs 23 billion for the year 2012-13. The secretary assured the committee that there is no oil supply problem currently with PR because Pakistan State Oil regularly supplies it.
The committee also informed that the Planning Commission has approved three major schemes at a cost of Rs 35 billion to support railway revival. Letter of Interest (LoI) has been issued for rehabilitation of 27 locomotives. Tenders for procurement of 150 new locomotives are under evaluation and 50 locomotives will be procured during 2012-13, the secretary maintained.
Federal Minister for PR Ghulam Ahmad Bilor told the committee that former finance minister Shaukat Tarin in 2010 accepted the bailout package of Rs 11 billion but could not release a single penny in this regard. He praises President Asif Ali Zardari for providing Rs 2.1 billion for payment of monthly salaries and pensions of the employees. He claimed that Indian railway was also confronting losses but its government provided several assistances and today it stands on its feet. While in case of Pakistan, he said the government gives more importance to road sector, construction of motorways but never provided any package to PR. Today Indian has 8,300 locomotives.
The secretary asked the committee that the government should take the responsibility of Rs 40 billion overdraft of the State Bank of Pakistan because the PR is unable to clear it in the next 10 to 15 years. Currently, the PR is earning Rs 800 million from two private trains Shalimar and Business trains and expressed the hope more such transactions will be made with private sector. He also said that the PR has already initiated a huge campaign about recovering PR encroached property across the country and since January 2012, 2,261 acres of encroached land has been recovered or regularised.
The committee chairman Haidri said that it looks like some people intentionally want to destabilise PR as its problems have intensified during the last four years. He also said it is good that PR will not allow NATO supply through it because we will oppose it. He said there are severe reservations over restoring NATO supply through roads.
Iran starts manufacturing locomotives
The Alborz Province in the northern part of Iran has opened the country’s first locomotive factory.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the opening.
The factory will produce 120 locomotives annually. They will save 10% of fuel. Iranian locomotives may reach a speed of 160 km/h using 25% less fuel, compared with analogue models.
Engineers say that the national locomotives of Iran meet international standards. Only a few states have technologies for their production.