NIGERIA: GE Transportation and the Federal Ministry of Transportation announced the signing of a letter of intent covering the supply of 25 diesel locomotives on May 12.

The C25 EMPD six-axle locomotives will be built by GE Transportation South America at Contagem in Brazil, with 12-cylinder 7FDL 2 500 hp engines supplied by GE Transportation's plant in Grove City, Pennsylvania. They will be delivered in 2010, and used on freight and passenger services.

'The delivery of these new locomotives will be key to our continued railroad infrastructure development and economic growth', said Alhaji Ibrahim Bio, Nigerian Minister of Transport. 'The president and federal government of Nigeria are determined to revive the comatose railway system into a critical enabling engine of the economy. We hope that our partnership with GE in successfully implementing this revitalisation program will serve as a model to the railway industry in the entire African continent.'