GE Universal Series

However, with the advent of the Universal Series, GE ended its partnership with Alco and entered the export locomotive market on its own.

The export-oriented Universal Series should not be confused with the "U-Boats" for the North American market, which began with the U25B.

[citation needed] The Universal Series are built to a much smaller loading gauge (Bern loading gauge) and are significantly lower in weight when compared to US locomotives sharing the same engine and horsepower rating.

Universal Series locomotives can also be identified by the lack of battery boxes usually found under North American locomotives' cabins The designations of the Universal series describe the locomotive model in compact form: U for Universal, followed by the engine's nominal horsepower rating in hundreds, and finally the number of axles; B = B-B (4 axles); C = C-C (6 axles).

Unlike EMD, GE never had a 16-cylinder engined export locomotive model in the Universal series.

Based on the March 1989 GE Locomotives catalog, the following models were offered at the following specifications.

The majority of the locomotives were built in the General Electric plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, however, licensees such as Dorbyl (South Africa), GE do Brasil (Brazil) and Babcock y Wilcox (Spain) constructed significant numbers of locomotives.

As of 2022, no Universal Series locomotive remained in the Wabtec (successor to GE Transportation) catalog.