Alstom signs 1-billion-euro locomotive contract with Russia

French rail engineering group Alstom and Russia's biggest railway equipment manufacturer Transmashholding(TMH) agreed Tuesday to jointly design and manufacture EP20 electric locomotives for Russia.

The two sides signed a 1-billion-euro (1.22 billion U.S. dollars) contract in Paris, Alstom told Xinhua.

Alstom and TMH decided to create an even-shared joint venture, called Tekhnologii Relsovogo Transporta(TRT), to produce 200 locomotives in Novocherkassk, Russia, with technical support from Alstom, the statement said.

TMH won the order from Russian Railways a month ago. According to the statement, the EP20 has a capacity of running up to 200 km per hour and is designed to operate in temperatures as low as minus 50 Celsius degrees.

Alstom and TMH have already owned a global partnership. Alstom has a 25 percent stake in TMH.

Additionally, they announced recently to further cooperation by creating a joint venture with the Kazakhstan Railways to open Kazakh market with electric locomotives.

The France-based Alstom is a world leader in transport and energy infrastructure, with presence in more than 70 countries. Its 2009-2010 annual sales stood at 23 billion euros, according to data from its official website.

TMH recorded annual sales of 2.4 billion dollars in 2009, and has one production site in Germany, besides main network in Russia.

Source: Xinhua