New Trains for Modernizing of the Railway Transport for Macedonian Citizens
News Trains for Modernizing of the Railway Transport for Macedonian Citizens The procurement of new wagons, Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski added, is part of a large-scale investment cycle in Macedonia's railways. Photo: www.mrt.com.mk
Macedonian citizen will travel with new trains starting next summer that will be air conditioned, power-efficient, meeting all security standards for transportation even of persons with limited mobility-modernization that the Government will invest in EUR 250 million in the next 4 years.
An agreement on the procurement of four new three-car diesel passenger multiple units and two new three-car electric passenger multiple units was signed Tuesday by the Macedonian government and China's CSR Corporation Ltd - one of world's leading companies in the production of freight and passenger wagons and locomotives.
The first multiple units, expected to arrive next year, have a capacity for 1,200 passengers, will be fully air-conditioned and equipped with vacuum toilets and constructed to be energy efficient meeting all safety standards.
The investment of EUR 250 million have been provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and comes 35 years after the procurement of the last passenger rolling stock in Macedonia.
Additionally, the procurement of freight wagons is being financed with EUR 15 million and rehabilitation of existing locomotives is funded with EUR 10 million, thus the investment for the renewal of the entire rolling stock of Macedonian Railways company totals to EUR 50 million.
After signing the document, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski said he expected the agreement to be completed as planned enabling new, modern and economical wagons and locomotives to be used in Macedonia in the summer of 2015.
The procurement of new wagons, he added, is part of a large-scale investment cycle in Macedonia's railways, including the construction of railroad tracks toward Bulgaria and the overhaul of the Skopje Railway Station.
Xu Zongxiang - Vice President of CSR Corporation Ltd – expressed gratitude to the Macedonian government for its trust, pledging to justify it by abiding by the contract. The Chinese company manufactures and services locomotives and passenger coaches and freight trains. In 2013, CSR Corporation Ltd recorded revenue of USD 16 billion and signed contracts with countries around the world in amount of USD 2.2 billion.
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