Azerbaijan Railways to spend $26 mln on Chinese locomotives for North-South corridor

BAKU. April 30 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) plans to buy seven new locomotives and spare parts from Chinese company CRRC Ziyang Co. Ltd under a $26 million agreement.

"All technical and commercial issues related to the purchase of the locomotives and spare parts have been agreed upon. The total value of the agreement is 26 million US dollars," ADY said in a press release.

"Equipped with advanced technologies and innovative traction systems, the modern AC50-type mainline diesel locomotive stands out for its high traction power, larger fuel capacity, and reliability," the company said, adding that the AC50 model meets the Level IIIA environmental standards of the International Union of Railways (UIC).

"The locomotives will be used to help handle the increasing freight transportation, particularly along the North-South International Transport Corridor, as well as other directions," ADY said.

In the next stage, ADY plans to buy 14 additional mainline locomotives. In light of the continued growth of transit freight along international corridors passing through Azerbaijan, ADY is stepping up efforts to update and expand its locomotive fleet, the company said.

The North-South ITC is a multimodal corridor for shipping freight that extends 6,000 to 8,000 km depending on the route, and connects northern Europe with countries on the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean through Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Much of the corridor runs along Russian railways, which make up 33-53% of its overland portion, depending on the route.