Twelve modern diesel locomotives purchased by Moldova’s state-owned railway company Calea Ferată din Moldova (CFM) thanks to joint financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Union (EU) arrived in Chisinau.
The new rolling stock was manufactured in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, by GE Transportation, now a division of the US company Wabtec, a leading supplier of freight car and locomotive products.
GE Transportation was contracted following a tender held by CFM in 2018 in line with EBRD procurement policies and rules.
The acquisition of the locomotives is part of a large project financed by the EBRD, EIB and EU that also includes the rehabilitation of railway infrastructure and comprehensive reform of CFM to improve safety, efficiency and corporate governance.
The total project cost is €110 million, of which €5 million is an investment grant from the EU’s Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) and the remainder from loans by the EBRD and EIB.