New electric locomotives to shorten travel time between Baku, Tbilisi (PHOTO)

Belfort, France, Oct. 9

By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:

France’s Alstom rail transport company has introduced its first passenger locomotive Prima M4 for the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC in Belfort, France, Trend’s correspondent reported from the event.

Ten passenger locomotives Prima M4 (AZ4A) are manufactured at a plant in Belfort within the contract for delivery of locomotives signed with the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC in 2016.

Alstom is very pleased with the delivery of its first multifunctional Prima locomotive to Azerbaijan and becoming a part of ambitious projects to expand the communication routes between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, as well as between Russia and Iran, said Bernard Peille, Alstom managing director for Western and Central Asia Cluster.

This product, manufactured on technologically tailor-made basis, is the result of stable trust relations between the teams of Alstom and Azerbaijan Railways CJSC working on the project, he added.

The locomotives will be operated both in the East-West Transport Corridor and in the North-South Transport Corridor.

The supply of the locomotive will start within the next few days. It will be delivered to the Belgian Port of Antwerp, and from there it will be supplied to the Georgian Port of Poti by a cargo vessel across the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and then it will arrive in Baku by rail in early December.

The AZ4A passenger locomotive was developed on the basis of Alstom’s Prima modular platform, designed to provide operators with the most efficient solutions for passenger and freight transportations.

The Prima AZ4A locomotive is able to run at 160 km/h. It is characterized by reduced power consumption and maintenance costs.

The long intervals between maintenance activities and repairs of the Prima AZ4A locomotive further enhance the fleet management efficiency, delivering to the operator the best possible availability and reliability.

AZ4A is the Prima M4 locomotive, developed on the basis of the technical requirements of the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC and in accordance with interstate standards (GOST) and specifications.

The locomotive is equipped with a high technology traction system built according to Alstom technology. Due to its modular design, the locomotive requires minimal maintenance and is characterized by a high level of reliability and low life cycle cost.

With a length of railroads of about 3,000 kilometers, Azerbaijan’s railway system is an important link between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, as well as between Russia and Iran.