Diesel Locomotive Manufacturing by Country: Verified 2025–2026 Signals
Verified manufacturing signals and the 2024 trade baseline
No harmonized open international dataset of country-level 2025–2026 diesel-locomotive production was identified in the sources reviewed for this study. This is not a production-unit leaderboard. The ranking uses official 2024 gross exports reported by WITS under HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210, “Rail locomotives, diesel-electric,” among countries with separately verified current manufacturing evidence. Raw WITS values are reported in US$ thousand; display values are converted to US$ millions. Direction: higher 2024 HS 860210 export value ranks higher.
Among the 11 included countries, the United States has the largest 2024 HS 860210 export baseline at $493.462 million, followed by Spain at $394.020 million and China at $57.710 million.
The table is a compiled research dataset based on 19 sources: official international trade data, a separate classification cross-check, and government, manufacturer and industry evidence. Row-level source and method notes are shown in the ranking table. Nine countries have a dated 2025–2026 production, delivery, order or manufacturing programme signal. France and South Africa are classified separately as current capability cases.
Snapshot checked October 6, 2026. Numeric status count: 11 official_value rows, 0 calculated_value rows, 0 official_forecast rows, 0 modeled_projection rows and 0 industry_observed_value rows.
United States; official 2024 WITS HS 860210 gross export value.
Spain; a 2026 Stadler order confirms a diesel-electric programme at Valencia.
Nine dated 2025–2026 signals plus two current capability cases.
India; official 2024 HS 860210 gross export value.
WITS / UN Comtrade, HS 1988/92 (H0) 860210. Higher values rank higher.
11 official_value; 0 calculated_value; 0 official_forecast; 0 modeled_projection; 0 industry_observed_value.
Overview: what the evidence can and cannot show
Public locomotive disclosures are not standardized enough to compare national 2025–2026 production in one unit-based table. Sources variously report completed locomotives, deliveries, firm orders or current manufacturing capability.
Current evidence includes production or deliveries in China, India, South Korea and Kazakhstan, as well as identified new-build programmes in the United States, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. France and South Africa are classified as current capability cases.
Ranking rule: manufacturing evidence determines inclusion; raw 2024 WITS HS 860210 export value determines rank.
Leading included countries by 2024 diesel-electric locomotive export value
The United States and Spain form the top tier by HS 860210 export value, followed by China, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Top 5 included countries by official 2024 HS 860210 gross export value
| Rank | Country | 2024 exports | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $493.462M | official_value; sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Progress Rail; ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2026. Progress Rail announced 65 new EMD SD70ACe-T4 locomotives for CPKC to be manufactured at Muncie, Indiana. |
| 2 | Spain | $394.020M | official_value; sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Stadler; ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2026. Stadler says 35 EURO4001 diesel-electric locomotives for TCDD will be designed and manufactured at Valencia. |
| 3 | China | $57.710M | official_value; sources: WITS / UN Comtrade, CRRC Ziyang and CRRC Qishuyan; ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence years: 2025–2026. CRRC Ziyang shipped SDD1 diesel locomotives in March 2025; CRRC Qishuyan reported its 100th FXN5C mainline diesel locomotive rolling off the production line in March 2026. |
| 4 | Czech Republic | $41.378M | official_value; sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and CZ LOKO; ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. CZ LOKO reported active EffiShunter 1000 deliveries and five additional locomotives for TrainPoint Norway due around the 2025–2026 year-end. |
| 5 | Germany | $22.546M | official_value; sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Vossloh Rolling Stock via TT; ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. Vossloh Rolling Stock reported that the first of ten new Northrail DE18 diesel-electric locomotives arrived in Sweden on April 12, 2025 for dynamic testing. |
Raw ranking unit is US$ thousand. Display values are converted to US$ millions and rounded to three decimal places; rank uses the unrounded raw WITS values.
Chart: all 11 included countries
The bars use the same raw WITS values as the ranking table and show the concentration of reported 2024 HS 860210 export value.
Methodology
This is a compiled research dataset based on 19 sources. Rank uses official 2024 WITS gross export value under HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210, “Rail locomotives, diesel-electric.” A country is included only when current diesel, diesel-electric or diesel-containing locomotive manufacturing activity or capability can also be independently verified.
Metric
Gross exports reported by World Bank WITS from UN Comtrade under HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210, “Rail locomotives, diesel-electric.”
Classification cross-check
The separate UNSD HS 2012 page is used only as a cross-check because code 860210 retains the diesel-electric locomotive description there. It is not presented as the nomenclature edition used by the WITS ranking table.
Unit
Raw source unit: US$ thousand. Display unit: US$ millions. Conversion affects presentation only, not rank.
Direction
Descending. Larger reported 2024 HS 860210 gross export value ranks higher among included countries.
Coverage
Eleven countries meet both inclusion criteria: a verified 2024 WITS HS 860210 trade value and separately verified current manufacturing evidence. This is not an exhaustive census of all countries capable of building locomotives.
Snapshot
Target year for the numeric rank: 2024. Manufacturing evidence window: 2025–2026. Research check date: October 6, 2026.
Rounding
Display values are converted from US$ thousand to US$ millions and rounded to three decimal places. Ranking uses the unrounded raw WITS values.
Dated evidence
A production event, delivery, firm order or identified manufacturing programme tied to a domestic manufacturer or plant during 2025–2026.
Current capability
An active domestic manufacturer with documented diesel or diesel-electric locomotive capability but without a comparable dated 2025–2026 output disclosure.
Source hierarchy
Conflicting evidence follows this priority: official source → international organization → government → regulator → academic or industry database → commercial source. Manufacturer primary disclosures are used for their own plant-, order- and product-specific evidence rather than as a neutral global output dataset.
Inclusion criteria
A country is included only when both the common 2024 WITS trade value and verified current manufacturing evidence are available.
Conflicting sources
Conflicting values are not averaged. If sources disagree, the higher-priority source in the stated hierarchy is retained, and any material discrepancy is documented in the relevant row note.
Missing values
A country is excluded when either the common 2024 trade value or the required current manufacturing evidence cannot be verified under the stated method. Missing production counts remain missing and are not estimated.
During the October 6, 2026 check, 2024 remained the latest complete all-reporter HS 860210 table identified in WITS for this comparison. More recent manufacturing evidence is kept separate rather than mixed into the trade metric.
WITS lists several 2024 exporters above some included countries, including Belgium, Tanzania, Latvia and the Slovak Republic. They are excluded because no verified 2025–2026 domestic manufacturing evidence was identified under the same inclusion criteria. This does not prove that no relevant industrial activity exists.
The European Union aggregate is excluded because it is not a country. The table does not include every country capable of building locomotives.
Display conversion: US$ million = official WITS value in US$ thousand ÷ 1,000. Because the directly published WITS number remains the ranking value, all 11 numeric rows are classified as official_value.
The metric does not measure annual new-build units, domestic sales, manufacturing capacity, fleet size, local content, factory revenue or order backlog. The WITS ranking category is HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210 for diesel-electric rail locomotives. Hybrid programmes used as manufacturing evidence are not automatically treated as HS 860210 production.
Main ranking: 11 included countries
The default ranking follows raw 2024 WITS HS 860210 export value. Filters change the visible rows but do not change the underlying research rank.
Included countries ranked by official 2024 HS 860210 gross export value
| Rank | Country | 2024 exports | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $493.462M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Progress Rail. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2026. Progress Rail announced 65 new EMD SD70ACe-T4 locomotives for CPKC to be manufactured at Muncie, Indiana; the platform uses diesel power with AC electric traction motors. |
| 2 | Spain | $394.020M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Stadler. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2026. Stadler's TCDD contract covers 35 EURO4001 diesel-electric locomotives to be designed and manufactured at Valencia. |
| 3 | China | $57.710M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade, CRRC Ziyang and CRRC Qishuyan. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence years: 2025–2026. CRRC Ziyang shipped SDD1 diesel locomotives in March 2025; CRRC Qishuyan reported its 100th FXN5C mainline diesel locomotive rolling off the production line in March 2026. |
| 4 | Czech Republic | $41.378M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and CZ LOKO. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. CZ LOKO reported active EffiShunter 1000 deliveries and five additional locomotives for TrainPoint Norway due around the 2025–2026 year-end. |
| 5 | Germany | $22.546M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Vossloh Rolling Stock via TT. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. Vossloh Rolling Stock reported that the first of ten new Northrail DE18 diesel-electric locomotives arrived in Sweden on April 12, 2025 for dynamic testing. |
| 6 | Kazakhstan | $8.102M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty reports production of its 600th locomotive in 2025 as a cumulative milestone and lists TE33AC, TEP33A and TEM11A diesel locomotives as current products. |
| 7 | France | $4.824M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade, French National Company Directory and SOCOFER. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; current manufacturing capability checked: October 6, 2026. The French government company directory lists SOCOFER as an active locomotive and rolling-stock manufacturer, while SOCOFER's current traction range includes diesel locomotives. No 2025–2026 diesel unit count is claimed. |
| 8 | South Africa | $4.430M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade, Transnet Engineering and Engineering News. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; current manufacturing capability checked: October 6, 2026; dated context source year: 2025. Transnet Engineering states that its locomotive business builds diesel-electric locomotives; July 2025 industry reporting documented renewed promotion of its locally designed and manufactured Trans-Africa Locomotive. No new 2025 production count is inferred. |
| 9 | Korea, Rep. | $4.071M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade, Romansys and Railway Economy News. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2026. Romansys lists a “Diesel-Electric Locomotive Highlight” dated August 27, 2026; Railway Economy News reports that Romansys rolled out the first independently designed and manufactured 7700-series diesel-electric locomotive at its Changwon factory on August 27, 2026. |
| 10 | United Kingdom | $0.907M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Clayton Locomotives. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. Clayton received an order for five CBD40 hybrid locomotives using battery traction with onboard diesel engines. This manufacturing evidence is not used to classify the CBD40 itself under HS 860210. |
| 11 | India | $0.861M | official_value. Sources: WITS / UN Comtrade and Government of India Press Information Bureau. Ranking source year: 2024; target year: 2024 trade baseline; manufacturing evidence year: 2025. India's Press Information Bureau reported 73 locomotives supplied by the Marhowra diesel locomotive factory in FY 2025–26 through November and 14 export locomotives dispatched toward a 150-unit Guinea programme. |
Table note: this is a compiled research dataset based on 19 sources. The numeric target year and ranking-source year are 2024; 2025–2026 manufacturing evidence is used only for inclusion and row-level context. The ranking source uses HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210; the separate UNSD HS 2012 page is only a classification cross-check. Display values are rounded to three decimal places after conversion to US$ millions; rank uses unrounded WITS values. Conflicting values are not averaged.
Insights from the included countries
Key Insight
The United States and Spain have the two largest 2024 HS 860210 export values in the included dataset: $493.462 million and $394.020 million.
Notable Pattern
The gap between Spain at $394.020 million and China at $57.710 million is much larger than the gaps among most lower-ranked countries.
Regional / Source Concentration
Five included countries are European: Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Outlier
Kazakhstan ranks sixth at $8.102 million; every remaining included country is below $5 million in the 2024 trade baseline.
What this ranking means
Use the ranking as a trade-based comparison of countries with verified current manufacturing evidence. Production events, deliveries, future orders and current manufacturing capability remain separate evidence types and are not converted into an unsupported production estimate.
FAQ
Which country manufactures the most diesel locomotives in 2025–2026?
No standardized global production dataset supports a defensible unit-output leader across the countries reviewed.
What does HS 860210 cover in this ranking?
The WITS ranking table uses HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210, “Rail locomotives, diesel-electric.” A separate UNSD HS 2012 page is used only as a classification cross-check because code 860210 retains the diesel-electric locomotive description there.
Why does the ranking use 2024 trade data?
During the October 6, 2026 research check, 2024 was the latest complete all-reporter HS 860210 table identified in WITS for this comparison. Current 2025–2026 manufacturing evidence is shown separately.
Are the ranking values official published values?
Yes. Every numeric ranking value is an official_value taken directly from the WITS/UN Comtrade 2024 table in US$ thousand. US$ million labels are presentation conversions only; ranking uses the original unrounded values.
Why can India rank low despite current diesel-locomotive production?
Because the rank measures 2024 exports rather than domestic output.
Why are France and South Africa classified differently?
Current sources confirm domestic diesel or diesel-electric locomotive manufacturing capability, but this research does not have a comparable dated 2025–2026 new-build output figure for either country.
Why is the United Kingdom included if its current programme is hybrid?
The Clayton order confirms current UK manufacturing of locomotives that contain diesel engines, but the programme is not used to claim that those hybrid locomotives themselves belong to HS 860210. The UK ranking value comes only from the separate official HS 860210 trade table.
Why are Belgium, Tanzania, Latvia and the Slovak Republic excluded?
They appear in the 2024 HS 860210 export table, but no verified 2025–2026 domestic manufacturing evidence was identified for them under the same inclusion criteria.
Are any 2026 production values forecast or modeled?
No. There are no official_forecast, modeled_projection or industry_observed_value ranking rows. Orders and future programmes are described only as documented manufacturing signals and are not converted into assumed annual output.
How are conflicting sources handled?
Conflicting values are not averaged. The higher-priority source in the methodology hierarchy is retained, and material discrepancies are documented when they affect a row.
Sources
These 19 sources support the compiled research dataset. WITS / UN Comtrade supplies the official 2024 ranking values under HS 1988/92 (H0) code 860210. The UNSD HS 2012 page is used only as a separate classification cross-check, not as the nomenclature edition used by the ranking table. Government, manufacturer and industry sources verify the separate 2025–2026 manufacturing evidence used for inclusion and row-level notes.
World Bank WITS / UN Comtrade — HS 860210 exports by country, 2024
Primary numeric source for all ranking values. WITS identifies the nomenclature as HS 1988/92 (H0) and code 860210 as “Rail locomotives, diesel-electric.”
United Nations Statistics Division — HS 2012 code 860210
Cross-check only. The HS 2012 page retains code 860210 for diesel-electric powered rail locomotives; it is not the nomenclature edition used by the WITS ranking source.
https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/Detail/EN/32/860210
Progress Rail — 65 new EMD Tier 4 locomotives for CPKC
United States dated manufacturing signal. January 2026 announcement states that 65 SD70ACe-T4 locomotives will be manufactured at Muncie, Indiana.
https://www.progressrail.com/en/company/news/press-releases/2026-progress-rail-to-deliver-65-new
Progress Rail — EMD SD70ACe-T4
Used to verify the locomotive's diesel engine and AC electric traction configuration.
https://www.progressrail.com/en/segments/locomotive/locomotives/freight-locomotives/sd70-a-ce-t4
Stadler — 35 EURO4001 locomotives for TCDD
Spain manufacturing signal. February 2026 announcement confirms 35 diesel-electric locomotives to be designed and manufactured in Valencia.
CRRC Ziyang — SDD1 locomotives for Mozambique
China 2025 production and shipment evidence for newly manufactured diesel locomotives.
https://www.crrcgc.cc/zyjcen/2025-03/17/article_2025031719403066133.html
CRRC — 100th FXN5C locomotive
China 2026 production evidence documenting the 100th FXN5C mainline diesel locomotive rolling off the production line.
https://www.crrcgc.cc/en/2026-03/16/article_2026031619193750394.html
CZ LOKO — Scandinavian EffiShunter programme
Czech Republic 2025 source for current EffiShunter 1000 deliveries and additional Scandinavian units.
Vossloh Rolling Stock — Northrail DE18 delivery, April 2025
Germany dated manufacturing evidence. Vossloh Rolling Stock reports delivery of the first of ten new DE18 diesel-electric locomotives ordered by Northrail and its arrival in Sweden on April 12, 2025.
Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty — Production history
Kazakhstan primary factory source. Records production of the 600th locomotive in 2025 as a cumulative milestone.
Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty — Current diesel locomotive products
Kazakhstan product source confirming TE33AC freight, TEP33A passenger and TEM11A shunting diesel locomotive products.
French National Company Directory — SOCOFER
France current capability evidence confirming an active company whose principal activity includes locomotive and rolling-stock construction.
https://annuaire-entreprises.data.gouv.fr/entreprise/socofer-socofer-tecmafer-654800168
SOCOFER — Rail traction
France product evidence confirming a current traction range that includes diesel locomotive products.
Transnet Engineering — Locomotives
South Africa primary capability source confirming diesel-electric locomotive manufacturing capability.
https://www.transnetengineering.net/products-services/locomotives/
Engineering News — Trans-Africa Locomotive, July 2025
South Africa dated context source documenting renewed promotion of the locally designed and manufactured Trans-Africa Locomotive without treating it as new 2025 output.
Romansys — Diesel-electric locomotive business and August 2026 news
South Korea primary manufacturer source confirming diesel-electric locomotives as a current business area and listing the August 27, 2026 “Diesel-Electric Locomotive Highlight” news item.
Railway Economy News — Romansys 7700-series rollout, August 27, 2026
Dated secondary source reporting that Romansys rolled out the first independently designed and manufactured 7700-series diesel-electric locomotive at its Changwon factory.
Clayton Locomotives — Mackay Sugar order, 2025
United Kingdom manufacturing signal. Confirms a five-locomotive CBD40 hybrid programme using onboard diesel engines; not used to classify the CBD40 itself under HS 860210.
https://www.claytonlocomotives.co.uk/2025/02/20/clayton-equipment-tastes-sweet-success-in-australia/
Government of India Press Information Bureau — locomotive manufacturing status
India direct production source reporting Marhowra diesel-locomotive deliveries in FY 2025–26 and the Guinea export programme.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2209199&lang=1®=3
