ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Railways (PR) has decided to procure 230 long-distancepassenger coaches, 800 high capacity wagons and 20 brake vans to meetincreasing demand and generate revenue after the launch of new trains.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed recently announced that domesticmanufacturing of passenger coaches will be started next year, while localproduction of locomotives will also be started in the next phase.

Official sources revealed that the railways wants to engage internationalmanufacturers/authorised representative of the manufacturers for the supplyof 230 long-distance passenger coaches, 800 high capacity wagons and 20brake vans through international supplier while keeping the standardsthrough international best practices.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government has introduced 20 new trains sofar due to which the demands for coaches and wagons has increased. The 230long-distance passenger coaches would include 80 economy-class coaches, 80AC coaches, 30 parlour cars, 20 luggage vans and 20 brake vehicles.Officials said that a worldwide tender was launched on January 21 and willbe opened until March 7.

The bid documents would be acceptable if having bid bond/guarantee/ earnestmoney of $1.50 million or equivalent Pak rupees from a Pakistani scheduledbank or a foreign bank operating in Pakistan which is acceptable for thePakistan Railways. Earnest Money Bond of the value lesser than the requiredamount will not be entertained.

The tenderer must furnish with the tender a “warranty certificate” whichmust be as: “The contractor explicitly states in the tender that he willwarrant that the material will be in accordance with the specifications,and that the material/ equipment will be free from all defects in qualityand workmanship and will arrange for replacing free of cost any part of theequipment/material which under normal use and maintenance proves defectivein quality or workmanship or fails to comply with the performance laid downin the specifications for a period of 24 months from the date of placing inservice or 36 months from the date of delivery, whichever is earlier.”

The 800 high capacity wagons and 20 brake vans would include 200 coveredwagons (40 CBU, 160 CKD), 300 container wagons (230 CKD, 70 CBU), 300 highsided open top wagons (230 CKD, 70 CBU) and 20 bogie brake vans.

The bid must contain bid bond/guarantee/earnest money for an amount of $0.6million or equivalent Pak rupees from a Pakistani scheduled bank or aforeign bank operating in Pakistan which is acceptable for the PakistanRailways.

According to documents the Pakistan Railways has proposed Rs 5.118 billionfor rolling stock availability projects, including Rs 1.424 billion forlocomotives and Rs 3.69 billion for carriage and wagons, under the PublicSector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2019-20.