The French company Alstom and Azerbaijan Railways CJSC have signed an agreement on the provision of technical support for the locomotive fleet, Trend reports from the signing ceremony.

The ceremony was held as part of the meeting of Azerbaijan’s Finance Minister Samir Sharifov with Minister of Economy and Finance of France Bruno Le Maire.

The agreement was signed by Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov and Alstom Regional Director for Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan Elshan Zeynalov.

The technical maintenance will be provided for locomotives supplied by the French company.

Last year Alstom presented its first electric freight locomotive Prima T8 AZ8A for Azerbaijan Railways. The presentation of the locomotive was held at the Electric Locomotives Assemblage Factory (EKZ), located on the territory of the Astana special economic zone in Azerbaijan.

The first AZ8A locomotive became a part of the contract signed by EKZ with "Azerbaijan Railways" in 2014 for the supply of 50 locomotives, including 10 passenger locomotives Prima M4 AZ4A. AZ8A is a heavy-duty freight locomotive from the Prima T8 series, which is based on the KZ8A locomotive, currently operated in Kazakhstan. AZ8A is designed for operation at temperatures from -25 to 50 degrees Celsius.

The locomotive is designed according to the specific technical requirements provided by the ARW Company, and also meets the GOST and TU standards. Prima T8 is one of the most powerful electric locomotives in the world.

The model consists of two sections, is able to pull a train weighing up to 9,000 tons and reach a speed of 120 km/h.