China has shipped 46 of 230 new high-speed passenger coaches to Pakistan Railways by sea, which will take three weeks to arrive at Karachi port.
These coaches will arrive in Lahore by the end of this month after being handed over to railway authorities, Source said.
“Yes, 46 new coaches have been despatched by China on Friday. Hopefully, we will have them in Karachi within the next three weeks,”
PR’s Additional General Manager (Mechanical) Shahid Aziz said.
Under a $140 million contract, a major Chinese corporation has produced 230 cutting-edge passenger coaches, 46 of which will be delivered as fully built units (CBUs) and the remaining 184 will be produced in Pakistan by PR engineers and technical employees under the supervision of Chinese specialists.
A similar deal involves a Chinese company producing 800 freight waggons and 20 brake waggons. While some waggons are currently being built in China, the vast majority will be manufactured in Pakistan as part of the technology transfer process.
According to reports, the railway is working to upgrade the dilapidated track (ML-1) to accommodate the high-speech passenger coaches.
Pakistan has also signed an agreement with a Chinese company to manufacture 800 freight waggons and 20 brake waggons.
China will deliver some fully assembled units (CBUs), while the remainder will be manufactured in Pakistan using the technology-transfer method.
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