At 16:00 on 17 May with a crisp whistle, two units of CKD9A-1 type high-power mainline freight locomotives made in CRRC Ziyang departed from Alataw Pass in Xinjiang into Central Asia, via Kazakhstan, and sent to Turkmenistan.
It marked the full delivery of China’s largest order of 15 sets of 30 diesel locomotives coming from Turkmenistan in the past ten years, and the China-Central Asia Summit (#CCAS) deserves a congratulations.
So far, the company has provided a total of 473 diesel locomotives of various types to Central Asia, becoming an important force in promoting railway transportation in Central Asia.
As China’s largest exporter of diesel locomotives to Central Asia, the company has become the largest supplier of rail transit in Turkmenistan since it entered the Central Asian market in 2004.
Up to now, the company has provided Turkmenistan with a total of 281 (units) high-power diesel passenger, freight, and shunting locomotives. These locomotives undertake approximately 95% of the local railway freight and passenger traffic, making important contributions to promoting local economic development.
In 2022, the company overcame the impact of Covid-19 and signed a contract with a Turkmenistan customer for 15 sets of 30 dual-united diesel locomotives for mainline freight transportation. This is the largest order of diesel locomotives that China has received from Turkmenistan in the past decade.
As of now, 281 units of locomotives manufactured by the company are running on the Turkmenistan railway, making an important contribution to promoting the country’s economic development. Whether it is railway transport within Turkmenistan or cross-border railway transport, the main transport task is undertaken by these locomotives.
Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan, Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan, and other cross-border transportation lines on these Asia-Europe hubs are the main channels for transporting imports and exports on Turkmenistan’s railway. Almost all freight work on the lines is completed by locomotives from CRRC Ziyang.
By the end of 2022, the CKD9A-1 high-power dual-united freight locomotive newly supplied by the company was used in the border transportation of Turkmenistan, with the maximum gradient of the line up to 23‰. At present within the country, only the locomotives manufactured by the company are capable of completing the transportation of this line in Turkmenistan.
The company not only provides locomotives, but also locomotive spare parts on a large scale.
On 4 January this year, the company and Turkmenistan customers signed a contract online for locomotive spare parts worth more than $30m.
This is the largest contract for locomotive spare parts signed by China and Turkmenistan since the 31st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This is also another fruitful achievement of cooperation between China and Turkmenistan in the field of rail transportation that helps to strengthen economic and trade contacts.