Some places mark you forever. Astana is one of these. In the heart of the steppes, the Kazakh capital spreads its tentacles, ribbons of sinuous bitumen and straight railroads that connect it far and wide. Since 2014, Alstom's KZ8A locomotives have been hauling immense freight convoys, transporting up to 9,000 tons of minerals per train.
Since April 2015, KZ8A's little sister, KZ4AT, has been transporting passengers on the Astana-Kokshetau line. Both were designed - in just 19 months in the case of KZ8A - by the French Belfort site which produced the first 25 KZ8A and is finalizing the first 20 KZ4AT, the following locomotives will be issued from the local site of EKZ, a joint venture held by Alstom, TMH** and KTZ***.
It's here, in the suburbs of Astana, that Uzbek journalist Alo Khodjaev wrote The Locomotives of Progress, a report which won the first prize of the competition "Kazakhstan through the eyes of the international press". Organized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the country's national union of journalists, the competition serves as a first-rate showcase for the region. "To be honest, I was impressed. I had never seen such big, modern workshops; there's a very positive industrial dynamic here in Kazakhstan," he writes.
"The powerful upswing of our activities here is being confirmed", says Bernard Peille, Managing Director for Kazakhstan. "Our cooperation with Belfort is very good. We have to deliver the first KZ8A "made in Astana" to our client at the end of August. Our industrial plan includes the delivery of 9 extra ones by the end of 2016."
The freight giant is proving very useful to KTZ "which uses them extensively for their capacity to considerably increase the tonnage per convoy compared to the old Russian VL80 locomotives," continues Bernard.
"The cherry on the cake: the drivers adore it, which is a major plus point." KZ8A and KZ4AT are perfectly adapted to the landscape of the steppes where the temperatures oscillate between -50°C and +40°C. Via EKZ, which is in charge of maintaining the entire locomotive fleet (including 27 locomotives designed by a Chinese competitor), Alstom is particularly well positioned in Kazakhstan, a country of immense potential and a true corridor connecting Europe and Asia.