Alstom’s JV EKZ became the first train manufacturer in Kazakhstan to receive the IRIS certification (International Railway Industry Standard). This certification has been established based on the ISO 9001 standard, with the goal of securing higher quality in the railway industry. It is the only sector-specific quality standard recognised worldwide by the rail industry for assessing management systems.
“We are proud to be the first train manufacturer in obtaining IRIS certification, which focuses on manufacturing of new locomotives and maintainability in service. Being certified demonstrates our continuous improvement and good fit between quality management system and our customers’ demands”, said Bernard Peille, managing director of Alstom in South CIS.
EKZ employs 420 people and is working on supplying and maintaining the Prima electric locomotives ordered by KTZ for 2020. Today, 42 Prima T8 freight locomotives and 20 Prima M4 passenger locomotives are already in commercial operation on Kazakhstan’s rail lines. In 2015, Alstom and EKZ were awarded by Azerbaijan Railways a contract to deliver 50 locomotives to Azerbaijan.
Alstom is present in Kazakhstan with more than 600 people, two Joint Ventures and two plants, EKZ in Astana for locomotives manufacturing and maintenance; and KazElectroPrivod in Almaty for the production of point machines. Alstom is the only manufacturer of electric locomotives and point machines in the Central Asian and Caucasian region and a major contributor to the revitalisation of its rail industry and the development of its economy.
With 16,000 km of track, the Kazakh railway network is the world’s third biggest network using the 1,520 mm track gauge and represents a substantial market for maintenance activities.
