Kazakhstan is set to purchase locomotives from the American company Wabtec for approximately $14 million each, making them much more expensive than comparable contracts elsewhere in the world. Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) says the higher price reflects the cost of long-term maintenance.
At a briefing on railway industry development, journalists pressed KTZ head Talgat Aldybergenov on why the company pays significantly more for railway equipment than operators in other countries. In September 2025, KTZ signed a $4.2 billion contract with Wabtec, under which the American manufacturer will deliver 300 freight locomotives at roughly $14 million apiece. By comparison, India purchased Wabtec locomotives for $2.6 million each — 5.3 times cheaper.
Aldybergenov pushed back, arguing that KTZ isn’t simply buying locomotives — it’s also creating 1,500 jobs for Kazakhstani workers who will service the vehicles across seven regions of the country. He maintained that the Wabtec contract is a good deal for Kazakhstan.
«Our contract covers not just the purchase, but also service and maintenance through 2042. After our trip to the U.S., we organized a press tour of the Wabtec facility. Comparing our price to India’s isn’t entirely accurate, because there are different models of locomotives with different technical specs. You can’t treat these as apples-to-apples,» he said.
However, after the contract was signed last year, the Qazaq Association of Minority Shareholders compared Wabtec locomotive prices across different countries. They found that Brazil purchased the same model — the Wabtec ES44ACi heavy-duty freight locomotive — in 2024 for just $3.4 million apiece. That means the locomotives being assembled at Wabtec’s plant in Kazakhstan will cost roughly four times as much as equivalent units in other markets.
The Wabtec locomotive assembly plant in Astana has been operating since 2009. Over that period, the company has invested more than $230 million in the project and produced over 600 locomotives for KTZ and for export. In July 2024, Wabtec opened a technology and engineering center in Kazakhstan, intended to serve as a hub for innovation and workforce training.
