THUNDER BAY – While Thunder Bay’s Bombardier manufacturing facilty has continued producing street cars and light rail passenger cars, that is not all that the international company has been building. Bombardier Transportation has unveiled the first of 32 electric-diesel locomotives manufactured for Progress Rail Services Corporation.
Production on this project began in April of this year, following a contract awarded in November 2010.
“Bombardier Transportation is proud to deliver the first of these 32 locomotives, which highlights the excellent operating capacity of our Ciudad Sahagún plant and the skill of our workforce,” said Raymond Bachant, President, North America, Bombardier Transportation. “It once again demonstrates the Bombardier commitment to deliver high quality products to our customers.”
The production process for these locomotives consists of building the frame structure, final assembly of the locomotive, static and dynamic functional testing, and painting.
“Progress Rail is proud to be able to count on a global strategic partner such as Bombardier Transportation to support us in manufacturing world-class locomotives for our customers. We are very pleased with the work performed by the entire Bombardier team at the Ciudad Sahagún plant,” said William (Billy) Ainsworth, President and CEO, Progress Rail Services.
This first order consists of the final assembly of 32 Electro-Motive Diesel model SD70ACe diesel-electric locomotives. Each locomotive develops 4,300 horsepower; weighs 194 tons; measures 22.5 metres in length, 3 metres in width and 4.8 metres in height. It has a combustion capacity of 18,500 litres, and a top speed of 112 km per hour.
At present, over 100 Bombardier employees are involved in this project, in the areas of manufacturing and assembly, technical support, and supply management.
