Kazakhstan Achieves Record Locomotive Production in 2024
Kazakhstan produced 124 locomotives and approximately 2,155 carriages in 2024, marking a record year for its railway engineering industry, said Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev during a Jan. 9 forum in Astana’s industrial zone, the ministry reported.
Over the first 11 months of 2024, rolling stock production surged 5.1 times compared to the previous year. Locomotive output rose by 12.4%, while wagon and platform production increased by 6.5 times, and cylindrical roller bearings by nearly 50%.
Alstom’s Managing Director for Western and Central Asia, Jérôme Boyer, highlighted the company’s focus on producing components, assembling electric locomotives, and maintenance, supported by 1,200 employees. Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty’s head of production, Nurlybek Akhmetov, outlined their lineup of mainline, freight, and passenger locomotives.
Stadler Kazakhstan CEO Vladimir Rusak announced plans to expand into bogie manufacturing, wagon welding, and electrical control systems, emphasizing partnerships with local suppliers. Railways Systems KZ’s Commercial Director Pavel Rudovsky unveiled plans for an electrometallurgical plant with a capacity of one million tons, set for a 2028 launch.
Kazakhstan’s wagon-building sector aims to meet growing demand, with plans to begin producing covered wagons and oil tankers by 2027.
“The sector accounts for nearly 13% of Kazakhstan’s mechanical engineering. The production volume is more than half a trillion tenge (US$951 million). There are 59 enterprises in the industry, employing 8,400 people,” Sharlapayev noted.
