BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28
Trend:
By the end of 2019, Azerbaijan Railways will receive eight freight locomotives from Alstom SA, a French rail transport company, Trend reports referring to the statement of Azerbaijan Railways.
The contract between the sides envisages the supply of 50 locomotives in total, 40 being freight and 10 passenger.
To date, 10 passenger and 8 freight locomotives have already been delivered to Azerbaijan.
According to the agreement with Alstom, signed on May 12, 2014, Azerbaijan Railways will receive 50 Alstom AC locomotives, 40 of which will be operated for cargo transportation on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) route and the rest for passenger transportation.
Deliveries of the Prima T8 freight locomotives (AZ8A) began in December 2018. The locomotives were manufactured at the Electrovoz Kurastyru Zauyty (EKZ) enterprise in Kazakhstan. The Prima T8 locomotive has 8 axles and is one of the most powerful electric locomotives in the world.
This model, consisting of two sections, is capable of pulling a train of up to 9,000 tons in weight and a speed of up to 120 km/h, with an installed engine power of 8.8 MW. Thanks to their modular design, these locomotives require minimal maintenance and are characterized by a high level of reliability and a low level of life cycle cost.
The commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway took place on Oct. 30, 2017. Currently, the route is used for cargo transportation. At the initial stage, the volume of cargo transportation on the BTK was supposed to be around five million tons annually. However, the volume of cargo transportation was expected to reach 15-17 million tons per year in the future.