Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Transportation Energy Mining |
Founded | 1907 |
Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Rafael Santana (President and CEO) [1] |
Products | Evolution Series Locomotive Dash Series Locomotive L250 Marine Engine 360 AC Drive Systems 752 DC Drilling Motor Wind Turbine Drive Systems V228 Series engine Durathon UPS |
Revenue | US $8.2 Billion (2019) |
Number of employees | 27,000+ |
Parent | Wabtec |
Divisions | Rail Marine Mining Drilling Wind Stationary Power Energy Storage |
Website | www |
GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. The company was founded in 1907. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while its main manufacturing facility is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine manufacturing takes place in Grove City, Pennsylvania. [2] In May 2011, the company announced plans to build a second locomotive factory in Fort Worth, Texas, which opened in January 2013.
GE Transportation is the largest producer of diesel-electric locomotives for both freight and passenger applications in North America, believed to hold up to a 70% market share of that market. [3] The only other significant competitor is Caterpillar-owned Electro-Motive Diesel, holding an approximate 30% market share. [4]
GE Transportation also produces related products, such as railroad signaling equipment, and parts for locomotives and railroad cars, as well as providing repair services for GE and other locomotives. Current locomotives in major production include the GE Evolution Series; for a complete listing, see the list of GE locomotives.
GE produced its first locomotive in 1912, and continued to produce switcher locomotives through the 1920s and 30s, while also producing electrical equipment for diesel engines from other manufacturers. Heavy involvement in main-line rail transportation began with a partnership with ALCo in 1940. ALCo had been the second-largest producer of steam locomotives, and was moving into diesel traction, but needed help to compete with the newly-emergent GM Electro-Motive Division. In the partnership, ALCo built the locomotive bodies and prime movers, while GE supplied the electrical gear as well as marketing and servicing infrastructure.
At first, the partnership was reasonably successful, producing the popular RS-1 road switcher, but by 1950 Alco-GE was struggling to keep up with EMD. In 1953, GE dissolved their partnership with ALCo and took over the gas turbine-electric venture that had started series production the previous year. In 1956 GE launched the Universal Series, which succeeded in establishing them as the main competitor to EMD. The subsequent Dash 7 Series failed to build market share, however the Dash 8 Series did better and by the end of the 1990s the Dash 9 Series established a market lead which the Evolution Series extended.
In the spring of 2007, GE Transportation Systems rolled out a prototype hybrid diesel-electric locomotive to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. In September 2010, GE Transportation announced plans to commercialise a hybrid design by 2014–15. [5]
On July 27, 2017, GE Transportation announced that all production of locomotives would move from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Fort Worth, Texas, by the end of 2018. [6] However, following the merger with Wabtec, the Erie plant remained open as operations from the former MotivePower plant in Boise, Idaho, were consolidated at Erie. [7] [8]
In November 2015, French multinational Alstom, which now specialises in rail, acquired GE Transportation's Signaling & Train Control division. [9]
On November 12, 2017, GE announced they would sell or spinoff the Transportation Division. [10]
In addition to the railroad industry, GE Transportation, also serves the following industries: Marine, Mining, Stationary Power, Drilling, and Drivetrain Technologies (wind gear boxes).
On May 21, 2018, GE and Wabtec announced that GE Transportation, valued at $11.1 billion, would be divested from GE and subsequently merged with Wabtec in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction by early 2019. [11] Upon completion on February 25, 2019, the merged company was 50.8% owned by Wabtec shareholders, with GE shareholders owning 24.3% and GE itself owning 24.9%; GE also received $2.9 billion in cash. [11] [12]
In addition to railroad locomotives and equipment, GE Transportation Systems also produces large electric motors and propulsion systems for the mining, oil drilling, and wind turbine industries. GE also provides medium-sized, medium-speed diesel engines for several smaller vessels, mostly tugboats and other similarly-sized vessels. These marine engines are marinized versions of their locomotive engines.
GE’s battery business serves the rail, marine, telecommunications and energy sectors, including new smart grid technology. [13] [14]
GE's Durathon battery production takes place at their facility in Schenectady, New York.
A battery locomotive is in development as of 2020.[ needs update ][ citation needed ]
On November 13, 2020, GE sent out its first battery electric locomotive numbered 3000 to the BNSF Railway for testing on its mainline in California between Stockton and Barstow, California. It underwent various tests throughout 2021 to see the feasibility of a fully battery powered locomotive on the California main lines [15] [ needs update ]
The American Locomotive Company was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various times diesel generators, automobiles, steel, tanks, munitions, oil-production equipment, as well as heat exchangers for nuclear power plants.
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels. The most common are diesel-electric locomotives and diesel-hydraulic.
Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer that existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For many years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company. MLW's headquarters and manufacturing facilities were in Montreal, Quebec.
The GE U25B is General Electric's first independent entry into the United States domestic road switcher diesel-electric locomotive railroad market for heavy production road locomotives since 1936. From 1940 through 1953, GE participated in a design, production, and marketing consortium (Alco-GE) for diesel-electric locomotives with the American Locomotive Company. In 1956 the GE Universal Series of diesel locomotives was founded for the export market. The U25B was the first attempt at the domestic market since its termination of the consortium agreement with Alco.
General Motors Diesel was a railway diesel locomotive manufacturer located in London, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro-Motive Diesel division of General Motors (EMD). In 1969 it was re-organized as the "Diesel Division of General Motors of Canada, Ltd." The plant was re-purposed to include manufacture of other diesel-powered General Motors vehicles such as buses. Following the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in 1989, all of EMD's locomotives were built at the London facility. In 2005 new owners of EMD renamed the Canadian subsidiary "Electro-Motive Canada". The plant was closed by EMD's new owner Progress Rail in 2012, with EMD's production remaining in LaGrange, Illinois and Muncie, Indiana.
The EMD GP30 is a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada, including 40 cabless B units for the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems, initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The line is the direct successor to the GE Dash 9 Series. The first pre-production units were built in 2003. Evolution Series locomotives are equipped with either AC or DC traction motors, depending on the customer's preference. All are powered by the GE GEVO engine.
Electro-Motive Diesel is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motive Diesel traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, founded in 1922 and purchased by General Motors in 1930. After purchase by GM, the company was known as GM's Electro-Motive Division. In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, and in 2010, EMD was sold to Progress Rail, a subsidiary of the American heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. Upon the 2005 sale, the company was renamed to Electro-Motive Diesel.
The GE AC4400CW, sometimes referred as "AC44CW" is a 4,400 horsepower (3,300 kW) diesel-electric locomotive that was built by GE Transportation Systems between 1993 and 2004. It is like the Dash 9-44CW, but features AC traction motors instead of DC, with a separate inverter per motor. In appearance, the AC4400CW is somewhat similar to GE's more powerful locomotive, the AC6000CW.
The AC6000CW is a 6,000-horsepower (4,500 kW) diesel electric locomotive built between 1995 and 2001 by GE Transportation. It is among the world's most powerful single-engined diesel locomotives. The locomotive was designed for extremely high horsepower needs, such as pulling heavy coal and ore trains. Most examples were purchased by two railroads: Union Pacific and CSX.
The GE C40-8W is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems from 1989 to 1994. Often referred to as the Dash light series, it is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives. This locomotive model is distinguished from the predecessor Dash 8-40C by the addition of a newer "wide" or "safety" cab. A cowl-bodied version of this locomotive, built only for the Canadian market, was the GE Dash 8-40CM.
The Erie-built was the first streamlined, cab-equipped dual service diesel locomotive built by Fairbanks-Morse, introduced as direct competition to such models as the ALCO PA and FA and EMD FT. F-M lacked the space and staff to design and manufacture large road locomotives in their own plant at Beloit, Wisconsin, and was concerned that waiting to develop the necessary infrastructure would cause them to miss out on the market opportunity for large road locomotives. Engineering and assembly work was subcontracted out to General Electric, which produced the locomotives at its Erie, Pennsylvania, facility, thereby giving rise to the name "Erie-built."
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, commonly known as Wabtec, is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The GE Universal Series is a series of diesel locomotives intended for the export market introduced by General Electric in early 1956. General Electric had previously partnered with Alco, producing locomotives for export using Alco's 244 engine, and provided electrical parts for Alco's domestic production. However, with the advent of the Universal Series, GE ended its partnership with Alco and entered the export locomotive market on its own.
The GE PowerHaul is a class of mainline diesel-electric locomotives designed by General Electric. Thirty locomotives were ordered by Freightliner in 2007; the first locomotive was completed in July 2009 at GE's Erie, Pennsylvania, plant.
The Dash 9 Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation. It replaced the Dash 8 Series in the mid-1990s, and was superseded by the Evolution Series in the mid-2000s. Dash 9 series locomotives are some of the most common in the United States.
MotivePower, Inc. (MPI) was an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives. The company traces its history back to being a division of Morrison-Knudsen (MK) since 1972. After MotivePower spun-off from MK, the company merged with the air brake manufacturer WABCO to form "Wabtec" in 1999, remaining as a brand of it.
The Indian locomotive class WDG-4G is a class of dual-cabin freight-hauling diesel-electric locomotive used by the Indian Railways (IR). The locomotive is designed by GE Transportation and is based on its Evolution Series, which are used in North America. The class is meant for freight hauling and replaces the older American Locomotive Company (ALCO)-designed locomotives, which have been the mainstay diesels of Indian Railways since 1962. Equipped with a 12-cylinder fully turbocharged GEVO engine, it is claimed to be 50% more environmentally friendly than its predecessors and is the first in the country to be compliant with level one of the emission norms set by the International Union of Railways (UIC-1). The locomotive has two cabs for easy reversal, both of which are air conditioned.