LAHORE : Pakistan Railways has offered five routes in the Punjab to the Korean Railways to operate trains under its open access policy.General Manager (Operations) Isfaq Khattak told this to newsmen after a meeting with an eight-member Korean delegation at PR Headquarters here on Monday.‘Korea will improve Pakistan Railways infrastructure and rolling stock, impart training to the staff besides provision of six locomotives on experimental basis as a pilot project’.The GM said that Korea has offered 3000 horsepower capacity locomotives that could run at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour. After evaluating the performance of these locomotives, order for more would be placed.Korea has also been offered to bring its rolling stock for the operation of trains on Lahore-Faisalabad, Lahore-Gujrat, Lahore-Gujranwala, Lahore-Kasur and Lahore-Wagha routes under open access policy. Korea would also upgrade the signaling system and other infrastructure at these routes.
The Korean delegation would send feasibility report about the proposal after returning home.“Pakistan Railways has been earning Rs40 billion daily at present. We can double our income if supplied with 200 locomotives,” said the General Manager and added that a summary had been sent to the prime minister for increasing rail fares that had not been revised for the last two years though prices of diesel increased many times.Ishfaq said that the PR had acute shortages of locomotives and needed 200 locomotives urgently.During their a week long stay in Pakistan, the Korean delegation would also visit Mughalpura Workshop, Carriage Shop and Central Diesel Locomotive Workshop besides it would also visit to Rawalpindi and Karachi rail offices – Nation
