FMG set to receive redesigned locomotives from Wabtec for emission reduction

Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), a leading company in the  iron ore industry, set receive the first tranche of locomotives rebuilt by Wabtec., a US rail giant. The locomotives provide greater efficiency and help meet the company’s aggressive emissions reduction targets.

The first 12 of 28 rebuilt GE AC44C6M locomotives are due to arrive at Port Hedland this month by ship after being refitted at Wabtec’s Fort Worth plant in Texas.

The GE AC44C6M locomotives have been re-designed and re-built to reduce fuel consumption, cut maintenance and repair costs by up to 20 per cent, provide a 55 per cent increase in tractive effort and a more than 40 percent improvement in reliability.

The locomotive modernisation plan represents about a third of FMG’s Pilbara fleet. While Wabtec has performed more than 1000 modernisations for customers globally, FMG’s program represents an Australian first.

Fortescue’s Pilbara iron ore rivals – Roy Hill, Rio Tinto and BHP – have already placed orders with Wabtec for the world’s first FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive, but they won’t arrive until late 2023.