Passenger Trains > Looks like new Acela trainsets are about to be on the way

Fresh today: New York Senator Chuck Schumer says the Amtrak board is going to cut a deal this week with Alstom to build new Acela replacement equipment in New York State for $2.5 billion.

http://ccrail.com/alstom-amtrak-come-to-terms-on-2-5-billion-acela-replacement-deal/
 

How much do we know about the train they intend to build?
SR

Where is Superliners car order at?? Again Amtrak Money Pit called the NEC again.  We need fresh superliner car order Amtrak???

As a senior member of the Senate, Chuck has an enormous amount of clout to get things done, even in the minority.

400 jobs at Alstom-Hornell, plus 350 more with subcontractors. That's a good deal.

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Perhaps when they get this order completed, Alstom could help CAF push the dining cars, sleepers etc out the door in Elmira...

OUTRAGEOUS!     We have billions of FEDERAL dollars for more NEC trains, but we don't have $150,000 to fix each heritage dining car.    We have billions for new NEC toys, but Columbus, OH, Nashville, TN, Las Vegas, NV, Billings, MT etc. have NO train service at all.  We a billion for a 79 mph railroad from Chicago - St. Louis, but we cannot keep the existing cars and locomotives in excellent condition. 

Amtrak needs a NEW president and NEW priorities. 

MEKoch Wrote:
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> OUTRAGEOUS!     We have billions of FEDERAL
> dollars for more NEC trains, but we don't have
> $150,000 to fix each heritage dining car.    We
> have billions for new NEC toys, but Columbus, OH,
> Nashville, TN, Las Vegas, NV, Billings, MT etc.
> have NO train service at all.  We a billion for a
> 79 mph railroad from Chicago - St. Louis, but we
> cannot keep the existing cars and locomotives in
> excellent condition. 
>
> Amtrak needs a NEW president and NEW priorities. 

Maybe the money goes to the projects with the greatest
return on the investment?

/Mitch

I think Chuck might now ride trains, as he had some issues with giving flight attendants  a fit.  LGA - DCA

I notice the article makes no mention of trifles such as how Amtrak is going to swing a $1.5 billion purchase. Is it a capital lease? More debt via the RRIF?

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

How many inches too wide will they be?

Dcmcrider Wrote:
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> I notice the article makes no mention of trifles
> such as how Amtrak is going to swing a $1.5
> billion purchase. Is it a capital lease? More debt
> via the RRIF?

It is RRIF. That is the financing the Schumer is talking about. The collateral is revenues from Acela service.

Now if we could somehow magically be able to collect the sort of per passenger mile revenue that the Acelas command, for LD service we could pull off a simialr deal for LD equipment. Meanwhile we wait for the largess from the folks on the Hill.

darkcloud Wrote:
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> How many inches too wide will they be?

Barbie is gone, so they will probably not be too wide just to meet the fanciful ideas of the marketing department. LOL!
 

While I understand the need for new Superliners the need for new Acela's is also a priority.  Wonder if there are any plans to refurbish the old Acela equipment for perhaps the Harrisburg corridor or turn them into diesel hauled short hauls via New Haven to Boston via Springfield or DC to Richmond.  The Amfleet along with Superliners is getting old too so any relief the redeployment of the old Acela's could extend the life of the other equipment.

amtrakbill Wrote:
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> While I understand the need for new Superliners
> the need for new Acela's is also a priority.
>  Wonder if there are any plans to refurbish the
> old Acela equipment for perhaps the Harrisburg
> corridor or turn them into diesel hauled short
> hauls via New Haven to Boston via Springfield or
> DC to Richmond.  The Amfleet along with
> Superliners is getting old too so any relief the
> redeployment of the old Acela's could extend the
> life of the other equipment.

Acela was built in 2000, we don't need Acela trainset maybe 20 years from now. Built these Superliners cars first and we need more Viewliners cars too. But just same things NEC toys.

Also how could these Acela trainset be worn out already just 16 years old. This Complete BS Amtrak Needs Acela trains again.

I researched the cost of the original Acela order -- but i still need help understanding these gargantuan numbers.

​--the original order for 20 train sets was placed in 1996, and valued at $1.2B (120 cars, 40 locomotives).

​-- $1.2B equals $1.83B in today's money (used web inflation calculator)

​Sense the $2.5B being talked about is way more than inflation ($670M more)--how many train sets are they really talking about?

railcity Wrote:
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> Also how could these Acela trainset be worn out
> already just 16 years old. This Complete BS Amtrak
> Needs Acela trains again.

I believe the impetus on aquiring new Acela sets was
that the current sets are too limited in capacity.  A
proposal to lengthen the sets did not seem to be viable,
though, one might wonder why if the new sets require
new infrastructure to accomadate them.

Also, the current sets of Acelas can not regularily run
at the (slightly) higher speeds that Amtrak hopes to
run the next generation of trains.

Considering that the sets are not exactly "old", it would
seem wise to supplement the new sets either on the NEC
or on the Harrisburg Keystone line.

/Mitch

The Acelas are not worn out, and are not scheduled for retirement.  They are costly to maintain in the demanding service they perform, plus cannot be lenthened to provide more revenue space.  The new, longer ones will be EMU's, capable of matching seating capacity to demand.  The existing 2000 series Acelas will be used in Regional service, thereby freeing up many Amfleet coaches to be moved around the system where additional trains or capacity are needed.  They would be perfect for use in Keystone Service, except that the additional high-level platforms needed for that purpose on that line are still under constructiont or on the drawing boards.

PRR1361 Wrote:
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> The Acelas are not worn out, and are not scheduled
> for retirement.  They are costly to maintain in
> the demanding service they perform, plus cannot be
> lenthened to provide more revenue space.  The
> new, longer ones will be EMU's, capable of
> matching seating capacity to demand. 

That's long been a weakness of the current Acela mix. Fixed length and semi permanently coupled trains mean the often sold out 2154 has the same number of cars as a never filled train.  Can't borrow a car and put it on the 2154 train set. EMU will resolve that.

I hope that the design allows an EMU set to be coupled to a diesel for one seat service to Richmond, Springfield, Norfolk, etc. Maybe even drop three cars from a Boston train, etc.


>The
> existing 2000 series Acelas will be used in
> Regional service, thereby freeing up many Amfleet
> coaches to be moved around the system where
> additional trains or capacity are needed.  They
> would be perfect for use in Keystone Service,
> except that the additional high-level platforms
> needed for that purpose on that line are still
> under constructiont or on the drawing boards.

Maybe if they put Acela logos on the new dining cars, they would get built faster?

Love this comment!!!

DevalDragon Wrote:
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> Maybe if they put Acela logos on the new dining
> cars, they would get built faster?