BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 18
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Chinese CRRC Group (China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation) supplied Uzbekistan with modern freight and cargo-passenger locomotives as part of the project on renewal of the fleet of locomotives through the acquisition of locomotives with the participation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Trend reports referring to Uzbekistan Railways.
According to the Chairman of the Board of Uzbekistan Railways JSC Khusnutdin Khasilov this is the fourth generation of electric locomotives, which are the most modern and assembled by order of Uzbekistan Railways, taking into account the climatic conditions of Uzbekistan and its geographic features with difficult mountainous terrain.
“Until today, two new freight locomotives have already delivered 6,500 tons of cargo from Tashkent to Jizzak and 4,500 tons of cargo have been delivered to Kashkadarya region along the most difficult mountain railway sections. In 7-10 days, each of the already delivered locomotives will start operating at full operating capacity,” Khasilov said.
It was noted that the new locomotives differ from their predecessors, which were purchased in previous years, in that they are much more powerful and in that they are two-section - an 8-axle cargo-passenger (9,600 kW) and 12-axle freight (14,400 kW) electric locomotives. Thanks to its power, the locomotive is able to easily move from a place with a heavy freight train in any weather conditions. The service life of each locomotive is 40 years.
“The locomotive crews are very pleased with the new technology, since the new electric locomotives are completely computerized and, in comparison with the previous generations of this technology, are quite easy to operate. They are equipped with modern security and diagnostic systems. For example, if an equipment malfunction is found along the route, a corresponding message is displayed on the on-board computer monitor, and the ways to eliminate it are indicated here,” driver-instructor for auto brakes at Uzbekistan locomotive depot Umid Khursandov said.
In addition, the modern technologies used in the presented locomotives, along with energy savings, also allow reducing fuel consumption.
At present, over 50 percent of the available locomotives have been renewed in the locomotive fleet of Uzbekistan Railways JSC.
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