Alstom presented its first Prima M4 passenger locomotive for Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) on 10.10.2017 in Belfort, France. Ten Prima M4 (AZ4A) passenger locomotives are being manufactured on this site as part of a contract awarded by ADY in 2014.
“We are very pleased to deliver our first multi-purpose Prima locomotive to Azerbaijan and become a part of ambitious projects to increase transit link between the Black and Caspian Seas and between Russia and Iran. This technologically tailor-made product is the result of a solid relationship of trust between Alstom’s and ADY’s project teams”, said Bernard Peille, Alstom Managing Director for Western and Central Asia Cluster.
The locomotives will operate under both 25 kV AC, 50 Hz for the East-West corridor and under 3 kV DC for the North-South corridor (also known as BTK route connecting Baku – Tbilisi – Kars. The AZ4A passenger locomotive is based on the Alstom Prima modular platform and is able to run at 160km/h in passenger service. The AZ4A is a Prima M4 locomotive developed on the basis of the Azerbaijan Railways technical requirements and in compliance with GOST standards and specifications. GOST refers to the set of technical standards maintained under the responsibility of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS region). With around 3,000 km of track, the Azerbaijani railway network is an important link between the Black and Caspian Seas and between Russia and Iran.
The AZ4A locomotives will be delivered via the Belgian port of Antwerp, from where they will go to the Georgian port of Poti by boat. From there the transport to Azerbaijan continues by rail.
More images? Check out more pictures of the presentation in Belfort on en.trend.az
Railcolor: Alstom published information about its contract with ADY in May 2014. Back then, it was the plan to built and deliver 50 twin-section freight locomotives to ADY, based on the KZ8A design for Kazakhstan. But ADY also wanted locomotives for passenger transport, and so it was decided to change the initial plan. There will be 10 AZ4A single-body 160 km/u machines, all to be built at Belfort. And then there will be 40 AZ8A twin-section locomotives for freight traffic that will be assembled by Alstom’s EKZ joint-venture in Kazachstan.
