TAJIKISTAN: State railway Rohee Ohani Tojikiston has begun taking delivery of six GE Transportation TE33A Evolution locomotives manufactured in Kazakhstan.
GE Transportation's main US plant in Erie supplied a single TE33A to Mongolian Railways in 2009, but the Tajik locomotives ordered in November 2011 are the first to be exported from the Astana plant where the GE/KTZ Lokomotiv joint venture is manufacturing locomotives for Kazak national railway KTZ.
The six locomotives are being supplied in three batches for delivery to Dushanbe-1, Qurghonteppa and Khujand by the end of March. They are identical to the KTZ locomotives, other than the livery which is based on the Tajik flag.
- Private freight operator Estonian Railway Services is currently testing a TE33A in Estonia to evaluate whether the design would be suitable for replacing its locomotive fleet. 'The Evolution is a new-generation locomotive providing savings in operational expenses and reducing emissions, both factors which are of utmost importance to a logistics company', according to ERS Chairman Arnout Lugtmeijer.
