The announcement was made Wednesday that it will be moving all manufacturing operations from its Boise, Idaho, facility to Erie.
“Decisions like this are never easy but will help simplify and optimize the company’s manufacturing footprint in today’s cyclical environment, as well as better position Wabtec for success,” the statement reads, in part. “The company remains fully committed to all customer commitments and providing impacted employees with resources and benefits to manage the transition.”
The move comes as a surprise to some. One Wabtec employee in Erie who heard the news on Thursday said, “Its great news, it will make this place more diverse.”
Many are looking forward to the possibility of new work to come to the Erie plant as they learn this new development.
Motive Power Industries has had a long history in locomotive building and rebuilding going back to its Morrison Knudsen days. It became part of Wabtec in 1999. In recent times its commuter locomotives, most noteworthy the MP36, built as part of its MPXpress line of locomotives, have been the source of a lot of the company’s success. A few years ago, GE Transportation and MPI teamed up on an MBTA commuter locomotive order to produce the HSP46, which was a marriage of different manufacturer’s parts, with a GE motor and electrical system. Initial problems with the 20-unit order and subsequent issues with other commuter locomotives have caused problems for the company and there has been no more orders for them.
MPI still offers the only Tier 4 compliant MP54AC commuter locomotive built in the U.S. but so far, the only customer for it is Toronto’s GO Transit. They have not expressed an interest in more of these units. Some sources with Wabtec hope that they hope can re-enter the passenger locomotive business again. It has been several years since a GE-only passenger locomotive was produced for the U.S. market, but many of them are still in service.
MPI has also been hampered by other factors including it being a small facility of less than 500 employees and it is locked in geographically and has no way to expand out of its current footprint. Any locomotive tests to prove roadworthiness usually had to take place on a nearby BNSF Railway branch line as well.
UPDATE: Full story write-through. Sept. 19, 2019, 1:22 p.m. Central time.
I am a ex motivepower employee I have worked there for 14years and ever since I have been there people only imagine what it’s like to work there. I would like to say thank you very much to union Pacific railroad and to go transit for all of your work that you have brought to us I know people are very mad and upset about what happened to us at motivepower but I agree it’s to the company’s best interest to make the move .I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that ever brought a locomotive through our shop .
Wonder what the Union status for the ex-MPI employees will be? Will there be a “2-tier shop” in Erie? Certainly in terms of physical size and layout the move to Erie makes sense.
I totally agree with Robert McGuire. Boise has the space to grow, the manpower, and connection to the UP mainline, which also gets routed to BNSF at Denver (I know they have trackage rights, I was using direct delivery) or Pasco WA. Fort Worth has both the space and the manpower, plus access to major players.
BNSF line in Boise?? Nearest BNSF line in Idaho is 400+ miles away near Sandpoint. A piece of advice to the braintrust of Trains. If you write anything on any place that you have no idea about, send a quick note (via this forum) out and ask if anyone out there has any idea what transpires in that area. Saves a lot of folks from wondering Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
Since MPI is now merged with the old GE locomotive division, will they move over to FB-2 trucks?
(heh!)
That’s some really bad news for all those employees of MPI in Boise. Good luck to them all.
Seems like a strange move to me. It should have been the other way around. Move Erie to Boise and if the plant isn’t big enough build a new one. Or better yet, consolidate in Fort Worth.
And it’s not even Union Pacific anymore that served this facility; it’s the Boise Valley Railroad.
EMD’s F125 is Tier 4 compliant, not just the MP54AC.
The Boise facility was willing to try things that EMD and GE weren’t. They tried ALCO 251 power, Cat and other manufacturers engines. This place tried, but their MP5000s and various rebuilding efforts didn’t quite catch on.
Facebook MBTA Fan site notes that some F40-PHs are on their way to Boise to be overhauled. May be the last chance to see any of them west of Erie!
MPI is actually on a Union Pacific line, part of the remnants of the passenger line serving Boise that diverged from the main line at Nampa and rejoined the main line southeast of Boise at Orchard.
I knew that MotivePower Industries was also making a Tier 4 Passenger Locomotive as well, so it wasn’t just Progress Rail, Siemens. What I don’t know is how well are these MP54AC units working for Toronto GO Transit though.
I generally don’t like the nit picky comments around News Wire posts, but even I have to remark that Boise is a long way from the nearest BNSF owned trackage.
How many people will be out of work?