OREANDA-NEWS. June 03, 2013. Russian Railways, JSC Transmashholding and Alstom have signed an agreement to develop main-line electric dual power 2ES20 freight locomotives with asynchronous traction motors.

The contract was signed by Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways, Andrew Bokaryov, President of CJSC Transmashholding, and Henri Poupart-Lafarge, President of Alstom's Transport Sector, at the VIII International Business Forum: Strategic Partnership 1520 at Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi.

Vladimir Yakunin said that in accordance with the signed agreement, a joint working group will be set up to prepare and approve the technical specifications of the 2ES20 electric locomotive.

It is planned that the development of the design documentation for the 2ES20 will be completed by September 2013, with the first prototype to be completed and testing to begin in March 2014.

Russian Railways will take delivery of the first 2ES20 locomotive in December 2014.

Production of the locomotives will be at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant, which is part of TransMashHolding. The locomotive's key components, including traction equipment, will be manufactured at other production facilities in Russia.

The dual-system electric freight locomotive is a modern and new technology for Russia's domestic industry. Introducing the 2ES20 will significantly improve the performance of rail transport by reducing train standing time at stations where the type of current changes and cutting the cost of both fleet maintenance and replacing the locomotives.