GE and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) announced today they have signed a new landmark agreement to extend their partnership in Kazakhstan to produce passenger locomotives at the assembly plant in Astana, Kazakhstan. GE will deliver 110 of its EvolutionTM Series locomotive kits manufactured in Grove City and Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty (LKZ), a joint-stock company of the Republic of Kazakhstan and a subsidiary of KTZ, assembles GE’s Evolution locomotives for railroad customers in Kazakhstan and the surrounding region. They will now produce GE’s Evolution passenger locomotives, the most technologically advanced diesel electric, heavy-haul locomotive modified for higher speed passenger service.
“This is an important day for both the Republic of Kazakhstan and GE because it demonstrates that strategic partnerships can promote long-term economic growth,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO of GE Transportation, during the signing ceremony at Innotrans 2012 in Berlin. “KTZ and GE Transportation have a long history of working together to ensure that Kazakhstan’s critical rail infrastructure remains modern, reliable and efficient now and in the future.”
This first order of 110 locomotives will start delivery in the first half of 2014. The passenger locomotives will operate at 160 km per hour and will have features configured for passenger service in Kazakhstan and the surrounding areas. Joint Stock Company (JSC) Lokomotiv currently operates 404 GE-modernized locomotives and have taken delivery of 150 Evolution locomotives from a previous order. JSC Lokomotiv’s fleet of GE-modernized and Evolution freight locomotives are also under GE ‘s long term customized service agreement (CSA) which provides greater sustainable long term performance for their fleet.
Read the press release here.
