USA: Cummins Inc is to produce a Tier 4 compliant 16-cylinder QSK95 diesel engine for rail, mining, power generation and offshore drilling applications, the company announced on November 1.

Prototypes of the QSK95, codenamed 'Hedgehog', will be available in 2013, with limited production starting in 2014 and full production from 2015.

Launching the engine at its Seymour, Indiana, plant, Cummins announced that Toronto commuter operator GO Transit will be the first QSK95 customer in North America, with an order for the repowering of 11 MotivePower MP40 locomotives.

The QSK95 will be capable of an output of more than 4 000 hp, and a gas option will also be offered. The new product line will extend up to the 120 litre, 20-cylinder QSK120, with an output of over 5 000 hp.

'The arrival of the new QSK95 builds on the success of the QSK78 and QSK60 in the locomotive engine market,' said Kathryn Unger, General Manager, Worldwide Rail Business. 'Just as Cummins is a major presence in diesel multiple-unit railcars, switchers and track maintenance equipment, we expect to become a force in the larger locomotive engine business.

'We anticipate that the QSK95 will power the first passenger locomotives to meet Tier 4 emissions standards in North America using Cummins' proven SCR exhaust after-treatment. The inherent advantage of high-speed diesel efficiency and a more compact installation over medium-speed locomotive engines becomes even more apparent with the need to meet very low emissions standards.'

• For the full story, read the December 2011 issue of Railway Gazette International.