GE, Kazakhstan in joint locomotive project

ALMATY, Feb 19 (Reuters) - General Electric Co. (GE.N) will start production of new diesel-powered locomotives in the Central Asian state of Kazakhstan before the end of the year, its local partner said on Tuesday.

GE and Kazakh state railway company Temir Zholy will finish construction of a $125 million plant by mid-2009 to produce Evolution Series models this year, and invest more than $600 million in production equipment, the Kazakh firm said.

The plant will help Kazakhstan, a rapidly growing oil economy and a country that is the size of Western Europe, upgrade its Soviet-era railway vehicles as it aspires to become a major transportation hub linking Asia and Europe. (Reporting by Tatyana Seroshtanova; Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Quentin Bryar)