Company Committed to Country’s Sustainable
Infrastructure Growth
GE Transportation, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE),
announced that the first China Mainline Locomotive (CML) will be
delivered around Aug. 30, 2008, to the Tianjin Port in Tianjin, China.
After being transferred to the Tanggu Depot for inspection, the
locomotive will make its way to China’s
capital Beijing.
Locomotive “CML 50001”
is the first of three hundred 6,000-horsepower Evolution®
Series China Mainline Locomotives being delivered to the Ministry of
Railways P.R. China (MOR). The contract was signed in October 2005 and
valued at $450 million.
GE Transportation is headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania (USA), and will
supply the 300 locomotives in an industrial cooperation with Qishuyan
Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works (QSY) based in Changzhou, China.
With a peak output of 6,250-horsepower, the engine offers 40% more power
at 30% less weight than Evolution®
Series locomotives currently utilized in North America. The lighter
weight design increases the eco-friendly properties of the locomotive.
The Ecomagination-certified GEVO, 16-cylinder engine generates 84% fewer
emissions and increases fuel efficiency by 3 to 5%. Ecomagination is a
company wide commitment to developing technology designed to help
customers satisfy environmental challenges, to maximize performance and
reduce cost.
“The result of a eight-year, $400 million
development effort, the Evolution®
Series locomotive is the most technologically advanced, fuel-efficient
and low emissions diesel-electric, heavy-haul locomotive to-date,”
said Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO of GE Transportation. “GE
Transportation’s eco-friendly rail technology
is an integral part of China’s sustainable
Infrastructure development.”
Two Evolution®
Series locomotives will be shipped fully assembled from Erie,
Pennsylvania (USA), to Beijing, China. The remaining 298 locomotives
will be either manufactured as kits or parts at GE Transportation’s
U.S. headquarter facility and then assembled in China by QSY. Kits began
shipping on May 18, 2008. Delivery of the kits will be completed by the
end of 2009.
Lorenzo Simonelli hailed the shipment as a great milestone for GE’s
rail business, which is capitalizing on growth opportunities around the
globe. “The Mainline project is critical to
GE Transportation’s success in China and
presents us with the opportunity to become a long-term strategic partner
to China’s Ministry of Railways.”
Other leading rail products by GE Transportation include modernization
programs to overhaul aging locomotives and GE’s
Trip Optimizer. GE’s Trip Optimizer is a fuel
and emissions saving control system for locomotive operation. It
determines and follows the optimum speed profile over a trip or route to
minimize fuel consumption, within the constraints of maintaining the
schedule. Using a sophisticated system of sensors, on-board computers,
advanced mathematics algorithms, closed loop control and GPS, GE’s
Trip Optimizer improves railway and locomotive efficiency and meanwhile
reduce the fuel consumption as well as the emission reduction.
“Our customer MOR sought a product that would
significantly improve hauling capability and running speed on the China
mainline, while at the same time reducing emissions to meet increasingly
rigorous Chinese environmental requirements,”
said Tim Schweikert, President of GE Transportation China. “The
locomotive they will receive will meet and exceed those requirements.”
Added Schweikert: “This is exciting news for
both GE and our partner, Quishuyan. We are three months ahead of the
original contract schedule, which means the MOR will receive the first
mainline locomotive early. Our industrial cooperation with Quishuyan
shows GE’s commitment to growing in China and
positions us as a lead to replace China’s
aging fleet of 6,500 mainline locomotives in the years to come.”
"We are so glad that the first fully assembled China Mainline locomotive
has been shipped from GE Transportation's Erie plant," said Chen Du,
Chief Engineer Senior of Qishuyuan. "We wish the China Mainline
locomotive assembled by GE and Qishuyuan in China will have the same
high-quality as the fully-assembled locomotive to arrive soon in China."
The first Evolution®
Series locomotive is scheduled to arrive in China in late August 2008.
The first locomotive assembled by QSY will follow in October. In order
to facilitate the success of the industrial cooperation, GE established
three onsite teams in Changzhou, Chengdu, and Zhuzhou, consisting of 20
local Chinese manufacturing and quality engineers to provide technical
support and aid in the assembly of the 298 kits. GE Transportation
expects to have all assembled locomotives delivered to MOR by June 2010.
GE Transportation’s commitment to China’s
sustainable growth goes far beyond its contributions to the country’s
rail market by building upon its technology leadership in the marine,
mining and wind industries worldwide.
“Now, more than ever before, GE
Transportation serves as a local company in China. We are closer to our
customers and committed to this market,” said
Schweikert. “On May 30, we broke ground on an
Off-Highway Vehicle (Mining) assembly plant in Shenyang. The 17,000
square feet manufacturing facility will produce electric motorized
wheels for Off-Highway Vehicles. We will focus on technology
localization and new product introduction, especially in key
infrastructure industries, such as rail, mining, marine, wind and
stationary power, to support China’s rapidly
growing industries.”
About GE Transportation China:
Established more than 100 years ago, GE Transportation, a unit of
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is a global technology leader and
supplier to the railroad, marine, drilling, mining and wind industries.
GE provides freight and passenger locomotives, railway signaling and
communications systems, information technology solutions, marine
engines, motorized drive systems for mining trucks and drills,
high-quality replacement parts and value added services.
GE entered the Chinese market 100 years ago, we built our first light
bulb factory in China back in 1908. Since 1984, China imported the first
420 units of ND5 diesel engine locomotives manufactured by GE
Transportation. GE Transportation established GE Transportation System
(China) Co., Ltd. in Beijing, in 2002 to provide R&D, manufacture and
service operations. In 2005, the Ministry of Railways P.R. China ordered
300 Evolution®
Series locomotives for its China Mainline. In 2008, GE Transportation
broke ground on its first Off-Highway Vehicle (Mining) assembly plant
and established GE Transportation (Shenyang) Co., Ltd. The company has
generated double-digit business growth for the past six years. The
company provides employment opportunities to 245 employees across China
and maintains offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Datong, Chengdu, Changzhou
and Golmud.
Today, GE Transportation is a $4.5 billion global enterprise and serves
as an integral part of China’s sustainable
Infrastructure development. For more information visit www.getransportation.com
GE Transportation
Lisa Li
Tel: + 8610.6787.5577 ext. 559
(office)
Tel: +86.1351.1059.851 (cell)
xia1.li@ge.com
or
Stephan
Koller
Tel: +1.814.875.3457 (office)
Tel: +1.814.431.3150
(cell)
stephan.koller@ge.com
