Lahore: Pakistan Railways has decided to manufacture international standard cargo carriages locally which will enable freight trains to run at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Railways inaugurated the carriages at Lahore Cantonment Railway Station, adding 40 high capacity carriages to the railway fleet.
Modernly designed, these wagons can transport crates from one place to another. Built with Chinese technology, this wagon can carry up to 70 tons of cargo.
About 820 coaches will be added to the railway system by the end of FY 2025 through local coach production and will save foreign exchange reserves. The addition of these carriages will contribute to an annual revenue of over 9 billion rupees.
Local carriage production is an important step towards self-sufficiency: Railways COO Amir Ali Buluch.
Taking this opportunity, Railways COO Amir Ali Baloch said that this freight train has been manufactured in our workshop. We have added 140 wagons to our inventory and plan to produce around 820 freight trains. A freight train pays for itself in 8-10 months.
We will collect more than 85 billion rupees in revenue and we have collected 35 billion rupees from cargo, he said. The railway approved the ML-1 project, an agreement to be used in strategic projects in China. The pension issue is under review, we have to run the railways at our own expense, so we will finalize the pension policy soon.
