Pakistan accepts Spanish railway offer

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has accepted the Spanish government’s offer to sell its refurbished railway engines and an agreement is to be signed after railway officials of both countries conduct mutual visits.
Sources at the Ministry of Railways said that the Spanish ambassador, during his meeting with Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, pledged Spain’s assistance in the restoration of Pakistan railways.
He also offered to provide used railway engines to support railway system of the country.
Sources indicated that it had been decided that Pakistan would evaluate the performance of six engines in trails conducted for 90 days to assess the machines.
They said that both the countries would sign an agreement about provision of railway engines if the trails yielded positive results.
In this regard, a team of Pakistani railways experts would visit Spain to inspect used engines, while a Spanish team would tour Pakistan to review the scope of the project in Pakistan Railways.
Sources revealed that General Manager Operation of Pakistan Railways Ishfaq Khattak had clarified to Spanish ambassador that agreement would move forward only if the engines were deemed suitable to the needs of Pakistan Railways. Pakistan Railways has been badly affected by a dire shortage of engines operating only 160 engines currently; it needs 400 engines to activate the whole system.