GE Transportation, a leading supplier to the railroad industry, and the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) have recently commissioned the 80th and final Evolution series locomotive.

This is the ENR’s first order of GE’s Evolution series, the most technologically advanced diesel electric, heavy-haul locomotive in the world, said a statement.

The locomotives have been successfully hauling freight and transporting passengers over the past several months and have logged tens of thousands of kilometers and transported hundreds of thousands of passengers.

“The Evolution series locomotives sold by GE Transportation to the ENR provide a platform for rail growth, grounded in high tractive effort, fuel savings and future emissions reductions,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of GE Transportation. “This is one more milestone in a long and fruitful relationship with the ENR.”

“This is our first order of GE Evolution series locomotives and I am pleased to mark this milestone,” said ENR chairman Mahmoud Sami. “The Evolution Series locomotives will provide us with a platform to grow our rail sector.”

According to a statement, the Evolution series locomotives will improve the efficiency of ENR’s operations in several ways. The locomotives provide best in class fuel efficiency, as they have electronic fuel injection, which is superior to mechanical fuel injection, a 40-year-old technology used on previous locomotives.

In head to head tests with competing products, GE’s locomotives have consistently proven to be more fuel efficient, in some cases as much as 6 per cent better. Thus, these locomotives will reduce ENR’s fuel consumption significantly, saving millions of Egyptian pounds during their life span.

In addition to being more fuel-efficient, Evolution Series locomotives generate significantly lower emissions than ENR’s current fleet of locomotives, resulting in a cleaner environment in Egypt.

The Evolution series locomotives are the most powerful locomotives in ENR fleet and will transport almost 30 percent more passengers and 60 percent more wagons of freight compared to the current locomotives. – TradeArabia News Service