GE Transportation today signed letters of intent (LOIs) with China’s Ministry of Railways (MOR) valued at $1.4 billion, including $350 million in exports of locomotives, locomotive sub-assembly kits, service support and railway signaling systems. GET also signed an additional LOI with the MOR reaffirming both parties’ intent to enter into a joint venture to advance high-speed and other rail technologies in the U.S.
The agreements, which were signed by President and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli in Washington, DC, have the potential to sustain or create approximately 2,000 high-tech manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
“This mutually beneficial partnership enables us to advance rail infrastructure rowth in both the United States and China,” Simonelli said.
The joint venture agreement, announced in Dec. 2010, establishes GE as the first U.S. manufacturer ready to supply high-speed rail passenger trains for the two proposed HSR corridors in Florida and California.
According to the terms of this agreement any potential high-speed trains or signaling equipment would be sourced from U.S. suppliers, and all final assembly would be performed in the U.S.  The partnership represents an investment of approximately $50 million in the joint venture with the potential to sustain or create 250 U.S. jobs by 2012 for the first phase of the agreement.
The agreement also advances passenger rail transport through the manufacturing of medium-speed passenger trains and transit rail vehicles for urban areas in the U.S.
