The Ministry of Railways is initiating a project for the procurement of 25 Diesel Electric Locomotives worth Rs. 14.761 billion for various shunting points across the country.
The new locomotives will replace outdated locomotives that will be soon be scrapped.
Only 51 locomotives are currently being operated for this service against the 98 shunting points at various railways stations across Pakistan. Additionally, most of the old locomotives will be discarded due to high maintenance costs, according to official documents available with ProPakistani.
The project for the Procurement/Manufacturing of 25 Shunting Diesel Electric Locomotives will be implemented in three years at an estimated cost of Rs. 14.761 billion, according to the documents. Also, the foreign exchange component of the project is Rs. 10.516 billion, while the rupee component is Rs. 4.245 billion.
The project is aimed at procuring/manufacturing 25 Shunting Diesel Electric Locomotives of 2000-2200 HP to replace the ‘overage/uneconomical locomotives,’ The ones being used for shunting purposes are timeworn and have been run for more than twice their economic lives. This has made them extremely unreliable and uneconomical to operate and maintain as the vital components of the in-use shunting locomotives (power assemblies, turbo supercharger, engine block, alternator, traction motors, and control units) need to be replaced completely. This is costly for old technology and considering the non-availability of parts with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Furthermore, they consume excessive fuel, and in most cases, high horsepower (HP) locomotives are under-utilized during shunting operations. Even with the special repair and rehabilitation of these locomotives by the OEM, it is not feasible to utilize them for shunting operations due to high fuel consumption being an unviable option.
There has led to a dire need for new shunting locomotives that can perform efficient shunting operations and pilot intercity train operations with better fuel efficiency.
Fifty-five locomotives of 4,000-4,500 HP have already been acquired for freight operations from Karachi to up-country. Also, Pakistan Railways urgently requires an increase in its present share of cargo/freight to at least 20 percent of the total available freight.
The addition of the new shunting locomotives will enhance Pakistan Railways’s capacity by removing the bottlenecks during the shunting of heavy load freight trains and the placement of freight loads at departure yards in Karachi, Lahore, etc. This will result in considerable savings and quick train formations.
Quick train formation is the most critical parameter for punctual train operations and is achieved via shunting locomotives. Late train formations/shunting in yards, sidings, washing/sidelines, etc., have adverse effects, and rolling stock availability/fitness can also damage Pakistan’s reputation on account of the late running of trains, with possible loss of revenue.
The role of specially designed shunting locomotives is considered the backbone of train formation and train rake replacement at the platform as well as the removal of train rakes from the platform to the washing line and sick lines. Similarly, the movement of trainloads after loading at the port to the marshaling yard and all other activities depend on the shunting locomotives.
These locomotives are not directly involved in revenue generation but act as the supporting facilities for the placement, composition, and decomposition of rolling stock, and the movement of a single or a few units of rolling stock between nearby stations/yards to rolling stock depots, marshaling yards, and railway stations/platforms, along with the running of short composition intercity pilot trains. The proposed locomotives can also be used for short-distance train operations, both for passengers and freight.
