President Joe Biden speaks at Amtrak’s 50th anniversary celebration on April 30.
Amtrak
Amtrak intends to spend $7.3 billion as part of wide-ranging efforts to overhaul the U.S. passenger rail service and tapped Siemens’ California unit to supply a new generation of less-polluting, more comfortable trains to upgrade its aging fleet.
Siemens Mobility won a contract worth $3.4 billion to build up to 73 trainsets, including locomotive engines and passenger cars, at its rail factory in Sacramento, says Michael Cahill, the unit’s president. The agreement runs through 2030, with the first units entering service in 2024. They’ll use multiple power sources, including only electricity on some routes (via overhead lines), diesel and a hybrid lithium-titanate battery system on others. Amtrak may buy an additional 10 trains as part of the first phase of the agreement and has an option to get as many as 130 more for use on the expanded network it envisions.
“These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our aging 40- to 50-year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment,” said Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn. “This investment is essential to preserving and growing our Northeast Regional and state-supported services and will allow our customers to travel comfortably and safely, while reducing carbon emissions.”
Rendering of the Venture model train Siemens will supply to Amtrak.
Siemens Mobility
The major purchase agreement comes ahead of Congress approving a massive federal infrastructure bill as President Joe Biden, a long-time Amtrak rider and fan, seeks to both dramatically revamp the country’s main passenger rail service and cut harmful emissions from transportation. If it becomes law, the bipartisan compromise infrastructure spending plan unveiled last month earmarks $66 billion of new funding for passenger and freight rail upgrades.
“These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our aging 40- to 50-year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment.”
The $7.3 billion investment outlined today includes the Siemens trains as well as long-term supplies of parts and service, facility modifications and other upgrades, Amtrak said. The new trains will run on electrified segments of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor as well as on routes in the Pacific Northwest, New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia and North Carolina.
The trains are based on Siemens’ Venture series, already in use in the U.S. by private passenger rail operator Brightline for its south Florida service, Cahill said. The German industrial giant’s rolling stock plant in Sacramento also supplies trains for services in California, Illinois and Canada. They’ll be roomier and offer a better passenger experience, with features including individual power outlets, USB ports, onboard Wi-Fi, improved lighting and panoramic windows.
Siemens’ Venture series trains are currently in use in the U.S. by Brightline, a private passenger rail company in south Florida.
Scott McIntyre/Bloomberg
“These will be more comfortable than ones that Amtrak has been running,” Cahill said. “The new trains have air suspension, there will be larger seats, wider aisles, better accessibility, bigger windows, and the trains inside are larger as well. We’ve gone to great lengths to maximize interior space without maximizing the exteriors.”
The trains from Siemens in California will comply with the Federal Railroad Administration Buy America Standards, Amtrak. The Sacramento facility is in its 30th year of operations, employs more than 2,100 people and gets much of the power needed for its train production from a 2.1-megawatt solar power system.
