Wabtec Lands Another Vale Contract (UPDATED 6/10)
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
“Wabtec has a proven history of providing integrated services designed to maximize reliability and availability of customers' locomotives at optimal operating costs,” said Danilo Miyasato, President and Regional Leader of Wabtec in Latin America, during the announcement of its 10-year master service agreement for Vale's Evolution Series locomotive fleet at Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) railway in Brazil. “This contract reinforces our long-standing working relationship with Vale to drive sustainable and efficient growth of EFC's railway operations.” (Wabtec Photograph)
Global mining company Vale has signed a 10-year master service agreement valued at approximately $340 million (R$1.8 billion) with Wabtec Corporation “to increase the efficiency and operations” of the Evolution Series (EVO) locomotive fleet on the Vale-operated Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) railway in Brazil, the companies reported June 5.
The agreement follows Wabtec and Vale’s July 2023 announcement that Wabtec would supply three FLXdrive battery locomotives to Vale for use on EFC and that the two companies would test ammonia as an alternative fuel replacing diesel.
Under the new master service agreement, Wabtec will analyze locomotive performance data from the last three years at EFC—an approximately 630-mile railway linking the southeast of Pará to the capital of Maranhão, São Luís—and provide “real-time monitoring on 5,000 parameters” of the EVO locomotives running on the railway, according to Vale and Wabtec. The goal, they said, is to “identify opportunities for continuous performance improvement and optimization of maintenance cycles, reducing towing and failure rates.” Wabtec on June 10 confirmed to Railway Age that EFC has 97 EVO units in operation.
In addition to planning and supplying parts for preventive maintenance, the companies reported that they foresee the creation of specialized jobs in São Luís as part of the agreement. “Intensive training programs will be carried out with the Vale team, preparing employees to maintain and operate the locomotives with the highest efficiency,” Wabtec and Vale said.
“This long-term strategic agreement means a new standard of reliability, availability, and safety for EFC locomotives, reinforcing our commitment to consistently invest in the quality and technology of our railway operations and promote the technological development of the railway sector in Brazil,” Vale Vice President of Operations Carlos Medeiros said.
“Wabtec has a proven history of providing integrated services designed to maximize reliability and availability of customers’ locomotives at optimal operating costs,” said Danilo Miyasato, the President and Regional Leader in Latin America at Wabtec, which has teamed with Vale for nearly 30 years to supply locomotives, materials and components to EFC. “This contract reinforces our long-standing working relationship with Vale to drive sustainable and efficient growth of EFC’s railway operations.”
EFC runs from the Mines of Carajás, in Pará, to the Maritime Terminal of Ponta da Madeira, in Maranhão. Its current transportation capacity is 240 million tons per year, according to the companies. Commodities include iron ore, pig iron, manganese, copper, fuels and coal. The fleet comprises 300 locomotives and around 24,000 railcars. An average of 22 pairs of EFC trains circulate per day. Vale also runs passenger trains Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays between São Luís and Paraupebas; annual ridership is about 350,000.
