Marhowrah plant set to ship first heavy-haul locomotive to Guinea
Patna: Bihar's Marhowrah-based diesel locomotive factory (DLF) is poised to export its first heavy-haul locomotive to the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. The first shipment is scheduled to be dispatched via Gujarat's Mundra Port in the first week of June, a senior official said.
The DLF recently secured its maiden export order worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore to manufacture 140 Evolution Series diesel locomotives for the Republic of Guinea. On Monday, it unveiled its first export-ready diesel locomotive during a special event at its Marhowrah facility.
The DLF, a joint venture between American firm Wabtec Corporation and
Indian Railways
, was established to produce 1,000 high-power freight locomotives over a decade, specifically designed to run on Indian railway tracks.
It began manufacturing locomotives for Indian Railways in Sept 2018.
The Wabtec Corporation, in collaboration with Rio Tinto SimFer, a joint venture involving the Government of the Republic of Guinea, Rio Tinto and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH), celebrated the unveiling of the first Evolution Series ES43ACi locomotive for the TransGuinéen Railway at the Marhowrah facility on Monday.
"It is part of SimFer's 2024 locomotive order to support the rail operations for the Simandou high-grade iron ore project, which is Africa's largest mining and infrastructure development project," a Wabtec official said.
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The event was attended by delegations from the govts of Guinea, India and the United States, as well as executives from Rio Tinto SimFer, Indian Railways, and Wabtec. The showcased locomotive featured the striking blue and turquoise livery of La Compagnie de TransGuinéen.
"It is an honour to celebrate this milestone with our partners as we supply the advanced locomotives needed to meet the demands of the world's largest untapped high-grade iron mine," said Mpilo Dlamini, Wabtec's regional vice president for Sub-Saharan Africa. "This unveiling is a tribute to a global team that designed and built a locomotive specifically tailored for the Simandou project," he added.
The occasion also commemorated the first and largest export order for heavy-haul locomotives produced at the Marhowrah plant, which has already delivered more than 700 out of the planned 1,000 locomotives to Indian Railways.
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