Kazakhstan: The national operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) and the locomotive builder have secured a $405 mln agreement for the supply of TE33A locomotives. The volume of the order is not disclosed.
Update 29/10/2024: In a comment to IRJ, Wabtec specified that the scope of the contract exceeds 70 locomotives.
The entire new fleet will be built at the Wabtec plant in Astana, Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyt (LKZ). With 451 such vehicles already delivered in past years, the new ones will start arriving at the KTZ’s disposal already next year.
In 2023, the sum of $900 mln was made available to the operator last year for the purchase of 240 locomotives. The year before, two companies signed a $600 mln memorandum of understanding to build 150 battery shunting locomotives and convert the mainline fleet to LNG.
Since 2009, LKZ has been producing mainly TE33A diesel locomotives in various modifications, and in the spring of last year announced an increase in production capacity to 120 vehicles per year. This February, KTZ reported that it had ordered 75 TE33AS freight, 37 TEP33A passenger, and 18 TEM11A shunting diesel locomotives from the plant.
