Confirming once again that the future of German industry lies in Asia and Africa, the German industrial giant Siemens has just signed a €3 billion contract to build no less than 1,200 electric locomotives for Indian Railways. This is the company’s largest locomotive contract ever. At the same time it was announced that a German machine tool company, DMG Mori, is about to finish a €400 million state of the art plant to manufacture CNC machine tools in Egypt, which will be the first machine tool factory to operate in Africa.
The Siemens modern 9,000-horsepower (HP) locomotives will service the nearly fully electrified Indian railway network, as India is expected to almost double freight capacity on its railways, according to comments by Siemens CEO Roland Busch, as reported by RailFreight.com
“We are delighted to partner with Indian Railways and deliver one of the most powerful electric locomotives available. These new locomotives will help increase freight transport on one of the world’s largest rail networks and cement a firm commitment from Indian Railways to achieve 100 percent electrification of rail traffic in India,” said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility.
