Beijing, 7 November 2022 (TDI): China has sent 46 high-speed rail coaches to Pakistan, making Pakistan the first country in the world to receive a 160 km/h train from China. Consequently, in railway travel, a revolutionary shift will occur.
China has sent luxury coaches as well as modern luxury train technology to Pakistan. A major project to upgrade Main Line One is also about to start. The luxury train has a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
The Pakistan Railways (PR) will receive 46 coaches, of 230. The first batch of high-capacity freight buggies would also be ready by January or so, according to a department official source, as their prototypes are not yet ready.
The Khanpur-Kotri section of the railway is unfit for high-speed train operation, so the railway is attempting to upgrade the crumbling track.
The Chinese company is to produce 230 cutting-edge passenger coaches under a $140 million contract (roughly Rs31 billion), of which 46 will be delivered as fully assembled units.
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The remaining 184 will be produced in Pakistan by the PR engineers and technical staff under the guidance of Chinese experts. An additional contract of a similar nature calls for a Chinese company to produce 800 freight wagons and 20 brake wagons.
The “Transfer of Technology” project will see the production of 184 coaches in Pakistan. The Chinese company will supply raw materials and spare parts for the coaches that are intended to be produced in Pakistan at the PR Carriage Factory in Islamabad.
