During Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to France, JSC NC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and the French company ALSTOM Transport SA signed an agreement on the production of a new freight electric locomotive in Kazakhstan. The document provides for the production of the KZ6A model with asynchronous traction motors at the Astana plant, which will replace the outdated VL-80 locomotives.
The new electric locomotive will be 40% cheaper to maintain and will be able to reduce energy consumption by 20%, which is in line with the tasks of modernizing freight transportation. It is also planned to create a competence center in Astana for the development of technologies for managing the transportation process, which will improve traffic safety.
In addition, ALSTOM will invest 50 million euros in the construction of four electric locomotive maintenance centers, which will create more than 700 permanent jobs in Kazakhstan.