{"id":289810,"date":"2025-09-23T18:25:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T08:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=66125"},"modified":"2025-09-23T18:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T08:25:18","slug":"ktz-and-wabtec-ink-kazakhstans-biggest-ever-locomotive-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=289810","title":{"rendered":"KTZ and Wabtec ink Kazakhstan\u2019s biggest-ever locomotive deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kazakh Railways, Kazakhstan\u2019s national rail operator, and Wabtec, an American tech company, have signed a major locomotive deal valued at 4,2 billion US dollars. The agreement, which would be the biggest locomotive deal in the country\u2019s history, includes the delivery of new locomotives, but also servicing and maintenance.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Among the new locomotives to be supplied is the new TE33AT series. Kazakhstan will build those locomotives on home soil. Wabtec has a locomotive plant in the capital city, Astana. The TE33AT locomotives are engineered to perform efficiently in Kazakhstan’s varied climate, offering high power, energy efficiency, and reliability.<\/p>\n

The acquisition will enable KTZ to boost traction availability and increase freight turnover, while also reducing locomotive fleet depreciation from 49% to 32% by 2030. That will play a role in improving KTZ\u2019s financial performance. The company is heavily indebted, and the agreement will help to optimise its operating costs.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Wabtec rolling stock plant in Astana, Kazakhstan. Image: \u00a9 Wabtec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Large but not extraordinary<\/h2>\n

Valued at 4,2 billion dollars, the locomotive deal is the biggest in Kazakhstan\u2019s history, but it also ranks among the biggest in global terms. Despite that, the signing of the deal is not extraordinary in itself, argues Russian rolling stock expert Sergey Belov in an interview with LogiStan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a continuation of supplies of diesel locomotives and service offering, which Wabtec has been doing in Kazakhstan since the end of the 00s and is gradually growing its presence in the country\u201d, Belov said.<\/p>\n

To the expert, the deal is just a prolongation of an already existing collaboration. \u201cWhat\u2019s more, the \u2018hard\u2019 part of the contracts and timeframes are not announced publicly, the reality will only be possible to understand on the basis of official portfolio benchmarks of Wabtec orders at the end of the quarter or even at the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Last year, Wabtec signed a 400 million dollar locomotive deal with Kazakhstan. That agreement concerned Evolution Series ES44ACi locomotives, which are designed to endure harsh climate conditions while maintaining a less costly life cycle than existing KTZ rolling stock. \u201cThe new locomotives will upgrade KTZ\u2019s aging fleet and support growing rail demand in the region\u201d, Wabtec said at the time.<\/p>\n