Alstom’s Jérôme Boyet: Kazakhstan Is Building a Regional Rail Manufacturing Hub

Kazakhstan has spent the past decade developing domestic rail manufacturing, supported by foreign investment and increased local production. The sector is also beginning to supply export markets. Kazakhstan is also preparing the next phase of railway expansion to increase network capacity and accommodate growing transit volumes. Alstom has operated in Kazakhstan since 2010, developing locomotive production and maintenance facilities while increasing the manufacture of components in the country. Its Astana plant has also produced locomotives for export. In an interview with The Times of Central Asia, Jérôme Boyet, Alstom’s managing director for Western and Central Asia, discusses the company’s investment plans and efforts to increase local production. He also considers how new locomotive projects and the Middle Corridor could affect Kazakhstan’s prospects as a regional rail manufacturing center. TCA: Alstom has now been operating in Kazakhstan for 15 years and has become one of the country’s largest industrial investors. What are the company’s current investment priorities, and how has its business in Kazakhstan evolved over that period? Jérôme Boyet: Over the past 15 years, Kazakhstan has become much more than a market for Alstom. It has evolved into one of our key manufacturing and engineering centers for Western and Central Asia. To date, we have delivered almost 500 electric locomotive sections to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) and another 50 to international customers. Our work extends well beyond manufacturing. Through service teams based across Kazakhstan, we maintain KTZ’s locomotive fleet throughout its life cycle, helping ensure the locomotives remain safe, reliable, and available for operation. To strengthen these capabilities, we launched a €50 million investment program in 2023 covering four service depots in Almaty, Astana, Shu, and Arys. The upgraded facilities are already beginning to deliver results and are scheduled to become fully operational by the end of 2027. The program will establish a nationwide maintenance network, reduce locomotive downtime, and further strengthen Kazakhstan’s technical expertise in fleet maintenance. These investments build on the industrial base we have developed over the past decade and a half. Today, our priority is to integrate manufacturing, maintenance, digital diagnostics, and local engineering expertise into a single industrial ecosystem capable of supporting the continued modernization of Kazakhstan’s railway network and growing freight traffic along strategic routes such as the Middle Corridor. TCA: How large is Alstom’s workforce in Kazakhstan today, and what role does workforce development play in your localization strategy? Jérôme Boyet: Alstom currently employs more than 1,300 people in Kazakhstan, with our workforce divided almost equally between manufacturing and service activities. Around 20% of our employees are women, while the average length of service exceeds four years. Importantly, 98% of our employees are citizens of Kazakhstan, reflecting the strong technical capabilities that have been developed locally. For us, localization goes beyond manufacturing components. It also means developing knowledge, engineering expertise, and professional skills within Kazakhstan. Our employees work across the entire industrial cycle from engineering, welding, and assembly to testing, diagnostics, and maintenance. As new locomotive and service projects move forward, we continue...