CN to purchase 200 locomotives from GE Transportation

5 January 2018

Canadian National Railway (CN) announced last month that it will acquire 200 new locomotives over the next three years from GE Transportation to “accommodate future growth opportunities and drive operational efficiency across its system”. The financial terms were not disclosed.

The order includes a mix of Tier 4 and Tier 4-certified Tier 3 Evolution™ Series locomotives. The latter category presumably means locomotives certified using emission credits under the US EPA averaging, banking and trading (ABT) program.

The locomotives are equipped with GE Transportation’s GoLINC™ Platform, Trip Optimizer™ System and Distributed Power LOCOTROL® eXpanded Architecture designed to maximize train effectiveness and efficiency through optimized power distribution, train handling, brake control and fuel utilization.

GE Transportation’s locomotives meet Tier 4 emission standards (NOx = 1.3 g/bhp-hr; PM = 0.03 g/bhp-hr) using in-cylinder emission control technologies such as Miller valve timing and EGR, without emission aftertreatment.

The locomotives will be produced at the GE Manufacturing Solutions facility in Fort Worth, Texas beginning in 2018. The first units are expected to be delivered in 2018 with the balance delivered in 2019 and 2020.

The CN’s order—the largest among class I railways since 2014—is a welcome news for GE Transportation, whose revenues declined over the first nine months of 2017. According to media reports, GE was exploring options for its locomotive division—possibly selling the operations—as the company has been striving to generate enough cash to fund its shareholder dividend payments. In November 2017, GE said it would cut its quarterly dividends by half—the first such cut since 2009.

Source: CN