Kazakhstan’s national rail provider, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), is to receive €121 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to acquire new freight and infrastructure maintenance equipment.
Described by EBRD as its largest-ever local currency loan, the money will allow the operator to “increase Kazakhstan’s transit potential and also to strengthen the security of passenger rail transportation”.
KTZ, which operates both passenger and freight services in Kazakhstan, will share out funding to its subsidiaries KTZ Express and Lokomotiv.
KTZ president Askar Mamin attended InnoTrans 2014 in Berlin last week where he reached agreements with the heads of Alstom, Talgo and GE to increase the number of foreign engineering companies involved in Kazakh rail projects.