Berlin, Germany, Sept. 21
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Azerbaijan will receive the first AZ8A freight electric locomotives in summer 2017, Bernard Peille, managing director of the French company Alstom’s South CIS Cluster, told Trend’s reporter Sept. 21 in Berlin.
These locomotives are produced by Alstom at the production site of the Elektrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty (EKZ) joint venture in Kazakhstan.
Peille said the assembly process of electric locomotives has advanced a lot.
“We have fully completed the designing stage and started assembling the first locomotive,” he said. “Two sections are already at the production site. Assembly of the casing is fully completed, its painting is underway, and the equipment installation stage is starting as well.”
“Our goal is to complete the assembly of the first locomotive in April-May 2017, and the work is being done in accordance with the schedule,” Peille added.
He said that once the locomotive assembly is finished, various commissioning tests will be carried out.
“There will be two types of tests: static and dynamic,” he noted. “Static tests will be carried out at our facility in Astana and we will conduct dynamic tests at different parts of the railway just before the locomotive is sent to Azerbaijan.”
Peille said it is expected that the first locomotive can be delivered to Azerbaijan in summer 2017.
“The main purpose is to provide the customer with the product by late 2017,” he added.
The second electric locomotive will be delivered immediately after the first one and it is planned to complete the entire process in 2019, according to Peille.
He noted that the customer will make the payments within the contract in several tranches.
Noting that the first payments have already been made, Peille said he can’t specify concrete figures, as this is a commercial secret.
He pointed out that the payments are made in accordance with the plan, contractual commitments are fulfilled and no problems are observed.
“We have good relations with Azerbaijan Railways CJSC,” said Peille.
The contract for delivery of 50 locomotives, including 40 freight and 10 passenger locomotives, for Azerbaijan Railways CJSC was signed in 2014, while the final agreement was inked in May 2015.
The AZ8A electric locomotives with asynchronous traction drive are built especially for Azerbaijan and will be one of the most powerful locomotives in the world.
The locomotives are capable of pulling up to 9,000 tons at speed of 120 kilometers per hour. The locomotives supplied under this contract are assembled at EKZ joint venture, a production site located in Astana, Kazakhstan.
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