[trn.trains.com]

Creel says CP favors rebuilding older high-horsepower units for two reasons: It’s cheaper, and a modernized older locomotive is more reliable than a new locomotive that’s compliant with U.S. Tier IV emissions requirements.

CP is rebuilding units for a little less than $2 million each, while a new GE comes with a sticker price of around $3 million, Creel says.

New locomotives are less reliable than a remanufactured unit, Creel says. Until manufacturers work out the bugs and reliability matches older units, CP is not interested in buying new, he says.