Wabtec Corporation has secured a long-term services agreement valued at more than $700 million with La Compagnie du TransGuinéen (CTG) to support the fleet of new Evolution Series locomotives serving the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. The Wabtec Simandou services agreement represents the company’s largest services contract on the African continent and underscores the scale of mining transportation infrastructure being developed around one of Guinea’s most significant resource projects.
When combined with locomotive orders announced in 2024, the Wabtec Simandou services agreement brings the total value of Wabtec’s business related to the Simandou project to more than $1.2 billion. The scope of the contract reflects the long-term operational requirements of CTG’s railway infrastructure and the critical role that reliable locomotive performance plays in sustaining the movement of iron ore across a rail corridor stretching more than 600 kilometres.
Scope of the Wabtec Simandou Services Agreement
The services agreement covers a broad range of locomotive maintenance and support activities designed to keep CTG’s fleet operating at high levels of reliability. Under the terms of the Wabtec Simandou services agreement, the company will provide both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, parts and component overhauls, parts management and logistics support. The contract also includes workforce training programs aimed at building local technical capacity, as well as advanced remote diagnostics that enable real-time monitoring of locomotive health and performance. Localisation activities form an additional part of the agreement, aligning with broader objectives to develop in-country capabilities around mining transportation infrastructure.
The locomotives supported under the agreement are Wabtec ES43AC Evolution Series units. These machines will operate on the CTG railway infrastructure that forms the backbone of the Simandou rail corridor, connecting the mining area with the Port of Morebaya. The railway is designed to transport iron ore while also supporting the movement of passengers and other non-mining goods, making it a multi-purpose transport link for the region.
Strategic Importance for Mining Transportation Infrastructure
The Simandou rail corridor is central to the logistics chain that connects one of the world’s largest undeveloped iron ore deposits with an export port facility. Spanning more than 600 km, the railway demands consistent locomotive availability and performance to handle the anticipated volumes of material movement. Long-term locomotive maintenance and support, of the kind covered by the Wabtec Simandou services agreement, are essential to sustaining the throughput and operational continuity that large-scale mining transportation infrastructure requires.
By securing this contract, Wabtec has positioned itself as a key partner in the ongoing operational readiness of the Simandou rail corridor. The agreement ensures that CTG’s locomotive fleet will benefit from sustained technical support, diagnostics capability and spare parts availability over the life of the contract, reducing the risk of unplanned downtime across the railway network.
The Wabtec Simandou services agreement, together with the previously announced locomotive orders, brings Wabtec’s combined commitments tied to the Simandou project to more than $1.2 billion, marking a substantial investment in the mining logistics infrastructure that will underpin the project’s transportation operations.