AZERBAIJAN: The EKZ electric locomotive manufacturing joint venture of Alstom and Transmashholding has delivered the last of 40 Prima T8 AZ8A heavy freight locos which were ordered by national railway ADY in 2014.
Assembled at Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan, the 25 tonne axleload twin-section freight locomotives have a continuous rating of 8·8 MW. They are designed to haul 9 000 tonne trains at 120 km/h in temperatures between -25°C and 50°C.
‘The shipment of locomotives for Azerbaijan is of particular importance for us, as this is our first export contract for Kazakhstan’, said Kanat Alpysbayev, Alstom’s Managing Director for Western & Central Asia, on February 9.
‘Despite all the difficulties posed by the pandemic, we have been able to reach this milestone as a result of the commitment of our team. These locomotives play a key role in boosting the freight transport capacity within Azerbaijan, and contribute to the ambitious goal of increasing the transit potential of the trans-Caspian railway corridor.
‘We are continuing to develop our close partnership with ADY, including the organisation of locomotive fleet maintenance and the implementation of signalling projects.’
