Pakistan Railways has 439 locomotives in its fleet, of which 267 are running and 172 are non-operational, Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi informed the Senate on Friday during question hour in Islamabad.
The minister said the government is taking several steps to put idle engines back on the tracks. The numbers show that nearly four in every ten locomotives are currently unavailable for service, a gap that shapes how many trains the network can field.
Repair plans through 2026 and 2027
Abbasi told senators that 16 non-operational AGE-30 locomotives are expected to return to service by February 2027. Separately, 20 ZCU-20/30 locomotives are due back after major overhauling by the end of 2026.
He also said accidental locomotive No. 9021 is expected to become operational after fitment by June 2027. Together, those named batches account for part of the wider idle stock, not the full 172.
Modernisation file and older diesel units
On longer-term upgrades, the minister said a PC-I — a formal project proposal — for modernising 35 GMU-30 locomotives had been submitted to the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives but had not been considered.
For 69 DPU-20/30 locomotives, Pakistan Railways has contacted the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the company that built them, and efforts are under way to bring those engines back into operation. Abbasi did not give a completion date for that work in his Senate reply.
What the Senate was told next
The minister framed the repair and contact work as part of a broader push to shrink the non-operational share of the fleet. The figures he gave — 439 total, 267 working, 172 idle — remain the clearest official snapshot of locomotive availability shared in the chamber on Friday.
How quickly idle engines return will depend on overhaul schedules, fitment of damaged unit 9021, Planning Ministry action on the GMU-30 PC-I, and progress with the OEM on the DPU fleet. Passengers and freight users will feel the difference mainly through how many services the railways can keep running as those steps move ahead.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan Railways ke paas kul 439 engines hain; in mein se 172 abhi kaam nahi kar rahe. Wazir Hanif Abbasi ne Senate ko bataya ke sarkar inhein wapas chalanay ki koshish kar rahi hai. Kuch AGE-30 aur ZCU engines 2026–2027 tak theek hone ki umeed hai. Jab zyada engines chalen ge, trains chalane ki gunjaish behtar ho sakti hai.
