The first of 1,000 diesel-electric Evolution series locomotives manufactured by GE Transportation for the Indian Railways arrived at India’s Mundra Port. It is the first of 40 locomotives that has been imported to India from the U.S. The remaining 960 will be built at GE’s Brilliant Factory, which is being constructed at Marhowra in Bihar, and will open in 2018.
This is the first diesel-electric locomotive running on Indian tracks that complies with the international standard on emissions known as UIC1. The locomotive was designed at the John F Welch Technology Center in Bangalore.
The milestone is the result of a USD 2.5 billion agreement for 1,000 diesel-electric locomotives, signed in 2015 as part of the Government of India’s Public Private Partnership program to modernize the country’s rail infrastructure. “This milestone is a testament to our strong partnership with Indian Railways. The construction of our Brilliant Factory in Marhowra and maintenance shed in Roza are well underway and we are delivering in line with the contractual timelines”, said Nalin Jain, President and CEO – International for GE Transportation.
GE Transportation is building two locomotive models for Indian Railways. The ES43ACmi is a dual-cab locomotive with a 4,500-horsepower engine. The second locomotive, model ES57ACi, features a 6,000-horsepower engine. It is currently in the design phase and will begin production later this year.
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