By IANS,
Islamabad : Over 300 of Pakistan Railways’ 500 locomotives are out of order, leading to a loss of a whopping nearly Rs.25 billion a year, authorities said.
The lack of locomotives has seriously impacted railway services in the country.
“The most important earning units in the system, locomotives, have en mass come to almost a grinding halt. Out of the entire fleet of approximately 500 locomotives, the average number of available locomotives at any given time has declined to only 200 from 300 during a short span of only a year,” said an official note of Pakistan Railways.
“It has brought the entire freight operations to a virtual shutdown,” Dawn quoted the summary as saying.
It said the railway “is undoubtedly passing through one of the most challenging phases of its life cycle”.
Calculating the losses, the note said an average locomotive is estimated to generate gross annual revenue of Rs.80 million to Rs.100 million and 300 locomotives not working translates into an annual loss of earning of at least Rs.24 billion.
The problem has become so acute that for the second time in a fortnight Monday, shortage of locomotives led to suspension of a record 115 passenger trains.
“The PR doesn’t have locomotives even to operate its first trans-country container train to Iran and Turkey,” an official was quoted as saying.