A prototype, based on a type 109E locomotive, will be produced by Skoda next year and sent to Ukraine for certification. Production in Ukraine will start in 2015 at a new plant which is expected to produce 25 locomotives a year. The proportion of Ukrainian components will eventually reach 90%.
The CoCo locomotives will be able to operate on lines electrified at 25kV ac and 3kV dc. They will have a maximum speed of 160km/h, which could be increased to 200km/h if necessary.
The new factory will also start production of other types of locomotive in the future. UZ wants 50 dual-voltage passenger units, 330 conventional passenger locomotives, and 100 dual-voltage freight units.
