SRO gets delivery of US-made engines

Two US-manufactured locomotives arrived in the Kingdom recently. They are the first of the eight engines ordered by the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO) from the Illinois-based National Railway Equipment Co.
SRO public relations chief Mohamed K. Abuzaid said the two locomotives arrived at King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam last week, and their trial run will be conducted soon after the arrival of experts from the manufacturing companies next week.
“The locomotives will be inducted into service after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays. The remaining six engines will arrive in the next few months,” Abuzaid said.
He said the new engines would be used to haul the freight trains operating between Dammam and Riyadh, as the demand for container transport from the seaport to the dry dock in Riyadh has gone up phenomenally.
According to Abuzaid, the new locomotives fulfill high-tech specifications especially suited to the Kingdom’s environment. The maintenance of the new engines is said to be easier than the current fleet at SRO. Each of them is embedded with a black box.
Abuzaid said the SRO had signed contracts with Chinese and American companies to supply 34 new engines of various dimensions. Ten of them will be of 4,300 horsepower and are expected to be delivered in 2013. Another six with 2,000 hp will reach the Kingdom in April the same year. Ten engines with 3,500 hp will arrive in August 2013.
The addition of the new locomotives will double the SRO’s current fleet and increase the operational efficiency, quality of service, and productivity, said Abuzaid.