UKRAINE: Alstom is to supply national railway Ukrzaliznytsia with 55 Traxx Hauler electric freight locomotives tailor-made to local requirements.
Ukrzaliznytsia CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said the ‘strategic agreement’ signed in the presence of the presidents Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Macron of France on November 17 was ‘an important step towards solving the critical problem of the outdated traction fleet, with an average age of 46 years’. It was an ’investment in economic security and the sustainability of our logistics’, he added.
Tailored to Ukraine’s needs
Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said the locomotives would be ‘tailored to meet the country’s specific infrastructure needs, while ensuring high performance, reliability and energy efficiency’.
The 1 520 mm gauge locomotives will have four bogies in a twin Bo-Bo configuration, with a power rating from 7·2 to 9·4 MW and a maximum speed of 120 km/h. They will be able to use both 3 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz electrification systems, eliminating the need for trains from industrial areas to ports to change locos on the way.
They will replace about 80 older locos, and are expected to reduce operating costs by more than 30% thanks improved performance, reliability and energy efficiency. Ukrzaliznytsia said the locos will be able to haul trains 30% heavier than its existing types, and maintenance intervals would be extended from three to 37 days with a target availability of 95%, almost twice that of many older locos.
International financing
The €473m contract was awarded following an international tender supported by the World Bank. This attracted more than 10 bids from Europe and Asia which were analysed by independent consultants.
The order is being financed primarily with a €300m sovereign-guaranteed long-term loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and a €173m grant from the USA administered by the World Bank. The contract includes training for drivers and maintenance personnel and some deliveries of spare parts.
Ukrzaliznytsia said the selection of an foreign manufacturer reflects the urgent need for modern locos and the use of international funding. The locos will be designed and manufactured at Alstom’s Belfort factory in France, but will have use Ukrainian-made radio and safety systems and Ukrzaliznytsia said there would be opportunities for domestic component manufacturers ‘for decades to come’.
A preliminary agreement has been reached for Alstom to look at involving Ukrainian manufacturers in the long-term supply of various components for maintenance, including safety systems, communication equipment, brake pads, wheelsets, cables and cooling systems. A meeting with local suppliers will be organised in Q1 2026 to discuss opportunities for co-operation.
A modern maintenance facility is to be developed at an existing Ukrzaliznytsia depot.
The first of the locos is scheduled to be delivered in Q1 2027 for testing and certification, and all 55 are arrive during 2027-29.
Milestone in modernisation
‘This contract with Ukrzaliznytsia represents a significant milestone in our commitment to supporting the modernisation of rail transport in Ukraine’, said Poupart-Lafarge.
Ukraine’s Minister of Community & Territorial Development Oleksiy Kuleba said modern locos are needed because without fleet renewal, Ukraine’s export industries ‘would be threatened with the loss of freight capacity, since the railway is a key carrier today’.
