The Chinese company CRRC Tangshan delivered by sea to Pakistan Railways a batch of 46 passenger coaches for long-distance trains, as well as sets of spare parts for them.

On 27 November 2022, a ship with coaches dis- patched from the Chinese port of Tianjin arrived in the Karachi sea harbor.

The contract for the supply of 230 passenger coaches was signed in November 2021. This was preceded by a tender for the supply of coaches by Pakistan Railways in 2019.

This rolling stock is designed for movement at speeds up to 160 km/h on 1676-mm gauge railway lines. Lightweight and environmentally friendly materials are used in the interior of the coaches, and the seats are designed to provide maximum comfort to passengers. The design features of the coaches are low axle-load and increased passenger capacity.

This project also provides for the transfer of technologies and the localisation of production in Pakistan, where the remaining 184 coaches are to be assembled. Moreover, 25 employees of the Pakistan Railways Administration received relevant training in the Chinese city of Tangshan (Hebei Province).

(the news coverage has been prepared with the assistance of the editorial staff of the “Railways of the World” journal)