France’s Alstom has commissioned the first seven Prima T8 AZ8A freight locomotives to Azerbaijan Railways, the French company said.

These locomotives will run on the main freight transit line, which has recently been converted from 3 kV DC to 25 kV AC.

Prima T8 AZ8A locomotives will be running initially on the Silk Road East-West corridor of Azerbaijan linking the Caspian Sea main ports to the Georgian border and later all across the country.

In 2014, Azerbaijan Railways signed a contract with Alstom for 288 million euros for supplying 50 electric locomotives, including 40 Prima T8 AZ8A heavy freight locomotives which are being produced at Alstom’s JV EKZ in Kazakhstan and 10 Prima M4 AZ4A passenger locomotives which have been produced in France and already delivered to Azerbaijan.

Headquartered in France, Alstom is now present in 70 countries and employs more than 70,000 people.