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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Kansas City Southern Railway Co. (KCSR) will obtain a $54.6 million Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program loan to purchase 30 new GE Transportation ES44AC locomotives.

To be built at GE’s Erie, Pa., plant, the diesel-electric locomotives will be more energy efficient and produce significantly less carbon emissions than the units they're replacing, USDOT officials said in a prepared statement. The new locomotives also will feature improved train handling, more crashworthy cabs and state-of-the-art train controls, they said.

KCSR is acquiring the motive power to accommodate increased demand for shipments of coal, chemicals, grain, sand, stone, gravel, plastics, metals and automobiles.

Administered through the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the RRIF program provides direct loans for eligible borrowers to acquire, improve or rehabilitate rail and rail-related intermodal equipment and facilities. Currently, the program provides up to $35 billion for loans and loan guarantees. Recent RRIF loans, which were issued last year, include a $3.18 million loan to Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co. and the North Coast Railroad Authority to repair track; a $562.9 million loan to Amtrak to purchase 70 electric locomotives for the Northeast Corridor; and a $56,204 loan to C&J Railroad.