Rolling stock manufacturers Transmashholding and Alstom have handed over the first series production EP20 electric passenger locomotive to Russian Railways (RZD).
The presentation took place at the Novocherkassk Plant (NEVZ) in the Rostov region, where the locomotives are being manufactured.
RZD plans to operate the fleet on the Moscow-Sochi route for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
The ceremony was chaired by Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister and attended by Valentin Gapanovich, senior vice president of Russian Railways, Vasily Golubev, Governor of Rostov region, Andrey Bokarev, chief executive of Transmashholding and Patrick Kron, chairman and chief executive of Alstom.
The EP20 locomotive is the first in the series of the new Alstom-TMH joint product range developed by engineers from both companies within the TRTrans engineering centre.
The main advantage of the EP20 is its dual-system is that it allows the locomotive to operate on tracks, which are electrified both with direct and alternate current.
