Feb 4 (Reuters) – Railroad operator Union Pacific and locomotive parts maker Wabtec signed an agreement worth $1.2 billion to modernize the railroad’s AC4400 locomotives, the companies said on Wednesday.
The agreement, which the companies call “the largest locomotive modernization investment in rail industry history,” is aimed at starting deliveries from 2027.
The U.S. has been ramping up its rail fleet replenishment using infrastructure investments made under the Biden administration, as operators replace aging locomotives with more fuel-efficient, digitally enabled models.
The fleet upgrade is expected to reduce fuel consumption by over 5%, increase the locomotives’ tractive effort by 14% and improve reliability by 80%, according to the companies.
Union Pacific will have more than 1,700 modernized locomotives in its fleet on completion of the order, which marks its fourth modernization agreement with Wabtec.
(Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
