340 million worth of new investment from Vale and Wabtec!

The Brazilian mining giant Vale has announced an important agreement with Wabtec Corporation worth 340 million dollars. The agreement is expected to last ten years to strengthen the operation and maintenance of the Carajás Railway, a critical transportation line for transporting iron ore from the Amazon mines to Brazil's northeast coast.

This railroad connects one-third of Vale's annual iron ore production, about 240 million metric tons, from the Carajás mining complex in the Amazonian state of Para to the Port of Ponta da Madeira near São Luís on Brazil's northeast coast.

For three years, Wabtec will analyze locomotive performance data and implement real-time monitoring on 5,000 operational processes of the locomotives.

Additionally, Vale and Wabtec announced the purchase of three FLXdrive battery locomotives in July 2023 in order to reduce the carbon footprint of rail operations. This collaboration is a continuation of the nearly 30-year relationship between the two companies and is seen as a critical step for the development of the Carajás Railway.