Railways to receive 23 GE locomotives by July

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways will receive 23 locomotives from United States company General Electric by July this year.

According to official sources, General Electric had already delivered 32 locomotives to Pakistan Railways as part of the agreement signed between the two sides two years back.

In 2015, GE and Pakistan Railways signed the agreement for 55 Evolutions Series Locomotives.

This week, Ministry of Railways signed another agreement with General Electric to add 20 more locomotives to its fleet.

Railways has been purchasing the locomotives under a plan to enhance its freight share in the transportation sector of the country.

The 2,000 and 4,000 horsepower locomotives are designed to better manoeuvre difficult access routes. The AC/DC compatible locomotives enable the unique attractive effort necessary to operate in the country's northern most landscape.

The locomotives can serve both freight and passenger cargo, and will primarily be used to move between Karachi and Lahore, and later on to Peshawar and Quetta.

They would be dedicated to oil and coal supply while small businessmen of Faisalabad and Multan would also be accommodated by running one goods train each from these stations.

These locomotives will also be used for transportation of coal to the Sahiwal and Jamshoro Coal Power plants.

Pakistan Railways and GE Transportation have maintained a successful relationship for more than four decades, and this week's announcement builds upon the commitment to further develop Pakistan's rail infrastructure.

The government planned to increase share of rail in transportation from 4 percent to 20 percent within the next 10 years.