The Lahore High Court (LHC) here on Wednesday summoned general manager operations Railways on January 21 in a petition filed by one Malik Abdul Rehman challenging the purchase of US manufactured locomotives by the railways.
Earlier, counsel of Railways Barrister Syed Ali Zafar advanced his arguments and submitted that there was acute shortage of locomotives in Pakistan as a result of which railways was unable to properly, safely or in a timely manner transport the passengers and freight to various parts of the country.
He added that in case of Pakistan Railways almost entire fleet consists of US manufactured locomotives and for technical reason and to ensure the safety of its passengers, these were the only standardised locomotives, which could be purchased. The tenders for purchasing of 150 US manufactured locomotives were floated as the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) had approved the purchase.
He pointed out that these locomotives have proven track record of 50 years excellent performance. The counsel referred to documents to show that Pakistan Railways can only purchase those locomotives, which were compatible of its infrastructure of workshops, engineers, plants, tools, drivers, technicians and labour. The court also inquired from Barrister Ali Zafar that if it was possible to streamline the process of procurement of locomotives further by allowing the government to directly negotiate with the manufacturers instead of going through agents.
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