Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) and Alstom have announced an expansion of their partnership with the signing of a new cooperation agreement.
This was signed by Andrew DeLeone, President of Alstom in Africa, Middle East and Central Asia and Nurlan Sauranbayev, CEO of KTZ during a visit to France by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
In this new agreement, the businesses reiterated their partnership regarding the renewal of KTZ’s locomotive fleet and maintenance support, which includes the next generation locomotive KZ8A(NG).
To date, 90 freight and 39 passenger locomotives are in commercial operation with a further 160 freight and 80 passenger locomotives to be produced by Alstom for the rail company.
With this signing, both parties have announced a joint effort to grow capacity and rail know-how within the supplier base in Kazakhstan.
This will include opening an interlocking centre of excellence in the country to establish EBI Lock 950 product (signalling) expertise.
The aim of this work is to increase localisation rates. Alstom already has a strong supplier base in the country, with over 340 local partners, and it plans to expand this further through this partnership.
KTZ and Alstom have also agreed to work together to implement low emission rail technologies – with a focus on hydrogen and battery trains.
Andrew DeLeone, President of Alstom in Africa, Middle East, and Central Asia, said:Alstom’s work in Kazakhstan goes beyond addressing the immediate transportation needs of the country to support KTZ, as they build a strong and sustainable rail industry.
We see a growing future in Kazakhstan, one with increased localisation, a larger and diverse employee base and new export opportunities.
We remain committed to being a major contributor to the revitalisation of the country’s rail industry and the development of its economy.
