MotivePower, Inc.
IndustryRailroad
FoundedNovember 1999 (1999-11)
Headquarters
Boise, Idaho
ParentWabtec
Websitewww.wabtec.com/business-units/motivepower

MotivePower, Inc. (MPI) is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wabtec, and traces its history back to the MK Rail division of Morrison-Knudsen.

History

Main articles: MK Rail and Wabtec

Morrison-Knudsen established a separate rail division, MK Rail, in 1972. Morrison-Knudsen spun-off the division in 1993; it became a publicly traded company in 1994. After Morrison-Knudsen's bankruptcy in 1996, MK Rail renamed itself MotivePower Industries, doing business as Boise Locomotive. The company merged with Westinghouse Air Brake Company in November 1999[1] to form the Wabtec.[2] Wabtec renamed the Boise Locomotive division to MotivePower in 2000.[3] MotivePower continues as a wholly owned subsidiary of Wabtec.[4] On September 18, 2019 several months following Wabtec's merger with GE Transportation, Wabtec announced the MotivePower Boise plant will close in early 2020 and production shifted to Wabtec's legacy GE Transportation plant in Erie, Pennsylvania.[5][6][7]

Products

MotivePower's flagship product is the MPI MPXpress passenger locomotive. Over two hundred locomotives have been built for commuter rail operators in the United States and Canada.

Services

Completed at the Wabtec Erie shop in Erie, Pennsylvania, MotivePower also does overhaul work for several agencies throughout the US.[8] These include:

References

  1. ^ "MotivePower | Wabtec Corporation". wabtec.com. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  2. ^ Carlson, Brad (September 27, 2004). "Locomotive builder MotivePower to boost Boise workforce". Idaho Business Review. Retrieved April 22, 2017.  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Names change at Wabtec". Railway Gazette. April 1, 2000.
  4. ^ "MotivePower". Wabtec Corporation. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "MotivePower closing Boise office, moving to Pennsylvania". 18 September 2019.
  6. ^ Wabtec to close MotivePower plant Railway Gazette International September 21, 2019
  7. ^ "Wabtec to Close Locomotive Manufacturing Company in Boise, Consolidate Operations into Erie Site". www.erienewsnow.com. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  8. ^ "MPI work now fully relocated to Wabtec plant in Erie". trains.com. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

External links

North American locomotive builders
Locomotives built by Morrison Knudsen (MK Rail) and MotivePower
Categories