News Wire: Kazakhstan national rail company signs $900-million order for GE locomotives

[Brian Schmidt]

CHICAGO — GE Transportation signed two contracts, valued at more than $900 million, with Kazakhstan’s state-run railroad Kazakhstan Temir Zholy — the company’s largest international rail customer — as part of its long-te...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/01/18-ge-transportation-signs-large-order-for-locomotives-in-kazakhstan

[blue streak 1]

Will KAZA even have enough skilled mechanics to maintain the locos ?

[M636C]

blue streak 1

Will KAZA even have enough skilled mechanics to maintain the locos ?

 

Someone has been maintaining the TE10s that presumably formed much of the fleet previously, with the country having separated from the Soviet Union nearly twenty years ago.

 

TE10s have copies of ten cylinder Fairbanks Morse 38D8-1/8 fitted with a turbocharger in line with the existing blower.

 

These are presumably strong and relatively simple and the electrical equipment is probably equally simple and straightforward.

 

But these wouldn't be still running now if they couldn't maintain them.

 

They've had EVOs for maybe ten years now. If they couldn't maintain them you wouldn't see the current photos of them on the Russian internet sites.

 

There might be new technology that will require training, but there must be somebody in Khazakstan who keeps their existing fleet of locomotives running. If they couldn't cope with the GEs they have, they wouldn't buy more.

 

Peter