FORT WORTH: After a couple of down years, General Electric’s locomotive plant in Fort Worth is back to cranking out lots of shiny new railway equipment.

The enormous plant near Texas Motor Speedway in far north Fort Worth recently received an order for 200 locomotives from Canadian National Railway. That’s enough to keep workers at the facility, officially known as GE Manufacturing Solutions, busy for the next three years.

“We are bullish on the North American economy and on our ability to compete and win new business with our superior service model,” Luc Jobin, Canadian National president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The locomotives will be built starting in 2018. Canadian National’s order is the largest among North America’s class 1 railways since 2014, several officials said.

“In the years ahead, these GE Transportation locomotives and their digital technology will support and enhance our operational efficiency,” Jobin said.

The Tier 4 and Tier 3 (Tier 4 certified) Evolution Series locomotives are diesel-powered. They are known for their optimal power distribution, train handling, brake control and fuel efficiency.

“CN’s steadfast commitment to serving the expanding needs of its customers across Canada and the United States is helping to turn around the North American locomotive market,” said Rafael Santana, chief executive officer of GE Transportation. “We are proud to partner with CN on this agreement to meet the needs of their future growth, and optimise and further digitise their freight rail operations.”

The announcement of the huge order comes about a month after GE chief executive John Flannery announced the company likely would sell or spin off its locomotive operations as part of a realignment of corporate priorities that includes selling $20 billion in assets.

The Fort Worth plant opened in 2013, with the promise of luring about 700 jobs to Texas. But in recent years, the plant has had to lay off some workers as orders from railroads - many of which have experienced lean times in part because of reduced oil and coal shipments - slowed to a crawl.

GE also has a 125-year-old locomotive plant in Erie, Pa.

Some freight railway observers in North Texas last month expressed concern for the future of the Fort Worth plant, saying they feared it could be downsized as part of a sale or GE corporate spinoff.

Tribune News Service