Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) and Stadler have signed a contract worth about 115 million euros for the delivery of 10 FLIRT multiple units (including spare parts and depot equipment).

ADY has previously ordered rolling stock from Stadler, including double-deck KISS trains, but this is the first time it has ordered Stadler’s best-seller — the FLIRT.

Four of the trains will have a diesel-electric drive and will be used in inter-regional traffic, while six will be driven electrically.

Three of the latter will be used for inter-regional traffic, and three will be used for suburban transport.

Ansgar Brockmeyer, Stadler head of sales (www.stadlerrail.com), said: “We are very pleased that ADY has added the FLIRT to its fleet, after several orders for different vehicles from Stadler.

“ADY will have a ‘state of the art’ vehicle, thanks to the five-car trains from the FLIRT family.

“It will receive the first diesel-electric FLIRT that meets all requirements of the GOST technical standards.”

A broad-based infrastructure project is currently under way in Azerbaijan. Many main lines are being converted from 3kV direct current to 25kV alternating current.

The four diesel-electric FLIRT trains will be built first, so that ADY has enough trains to operate during the changeover period.

The first trains are scheduled to be delivered in 2022.