Transmashholding looking into creating internal combustion locomotive running on gas engine fuel - newspaper

MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) - Transmashholding (TMH) is looking into creating an internal combustion locomotive which runs on gas engine fuel, CEO Kirill Lipa said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.

He said that the development plans of Yakutian Railway (ZDY) involved transitioning to gas-fueled transportation. "They don't want to electrify anything, as with Elga, which is based in the same region and to which we also supply locomotives," Lipa said.

He said that this also applied to the Pacific Ocean Railway. "All of them - first and foremost ZDY - are looking to use locomotives with diesel engines which run on gas. That means that, all things considered, my opinion differs here, too, from that of the management of OJSC Russian Railways (RZD); using gas engine fuel for haulage operations in these regions is much more of a correct choice than electrification," Lipa said.

He said that Yakutia had its own gas fields. "They use gas engine fuel there now - in fact, they also say that gas fuel is better than diesel fuel. And for my part, I will add that it is better than electricity, too. This is why we plan to produce an internal combustion locomotive running on gas engine fuel, and we believe this to be a promising area," Lipa said.

Headquartered in Moscow, TMH is the largest manufacturer of rolling stock for railway transport in Russia. The holding has production and assembly sites within Russia and overseas, running operations in 30 countries.