Alstom and Kamkor JV to produce point machines for Kazakhstan rail

Alstom and Kamkor, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan's national rail company, have signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) to produce point machines for the Kazakh rail industry.

The agreement follows more than a year of testing Alstom's point machines on the Kazakh network to evaluate their resistance to the country's extremely low winter temperatures.

Alstom said that the cost reductions and improved security levels, compared with other models previously used on the network, convinced the national rail company.

The machines will be used along the 14,000km of rail network and could also be sold in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and in other markets.