The Polish national carrier PKP Intercity will buy ten new engine locomotives from the Czech manufacturer CZ Loko after signing a contract worth 220 million korunas (€8.5 million).
The ten shunting locomotives will be used for maneuvering work and assembling wagon sets on sidings.
The information was confirmed by Jan Bárta, a member of the CZ Loko board of directors.
“We won the contract, but we have not yet signed the contract. Nevertheless, we expect that this will happen soon,” said Bárta, the son of the majority owner of CZ Loko, Josef Bárta. The delivery of locomotives will be completed within two years and the first locomotive will arrive in Poland in August 2022. As part of the delivery, CZK Loko will also retrain employees of the Polish carrier.
“As a group, we approach the modernization of the Polish railways comprehensively. We do not only take care of the reconstruction of the station, the modernization of the tracks, and the fleet of new trains, but we also invest in infrastructure and technical service,“ commented PKP head Krzysztof Mamiński on the transaction.
According to Maniński, the contract with CZ Loko is the first this year. But in the coming months, PKP is preparing another, all within its investment program, which is the largest in the history of Polish Railways.
The Polish national carrier PKP is going to invest 19 billion zloty (€4.2 billion) in the modernization by 2030. There will be new wagons, locomotives, electric traction units. CZ Loko is eager to participate in this program.
“We are definitely interested in bidding for further contracts on the Polish market. The competition is strong there because there are several local producers, but I believe that we will succeed,” added Bárta.
CZ Loko grew last year despite the pandemic. In the fiscal year ending in September 2020, the company increased its turnover to 2.8 billion korunas (€108.4 million), which is an increase of 15 percent. Profit after tax was 87 million korunas (€3.34 million).
The history of the company is connected with railway workshops in Česká Třebová and Jihlava and dates back to the 19th century.
The majority owner of CZ Loko with 51 percent is the company’s founder, Josef Bárta, and the rest is held by the Czech branch of the German engineering group Zeppelin. The company employs about 760 people in its facilities in Česká Třebová and Jihlava and in its service centers in Lovosice, Mladá Boleslav, Letohrad, and Ostrava. It has subsidiaries in Poland and Italy.
Title image: In this Monday, Oct. 14, 2019 photo a CSX locomotive rests on railroad tracks at a rail yard, in Framingham, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
