Passenger Trains > First Airo Acceptance

I saw on a LinkedIn posting that Amtrak has “conditionally” accepted the first delivery of an Airo train set that’s destined to the Pacific Northwest

Not sure what that means for this set of equipment but hopefully it will be moved to Seattle shortly so crews can be trained on its operation

There are now 3 Airo trainsets sitting in Philadelphia

Thanks Bill

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/26 17:31 by amtrakbill.

Well if the NexGen Acelas are anything to go by, then in another 4 or 5 years of testing we will have a glitchy, poorly built product with malfunctioning doors, next stop information screens that don't work, horrible seats, interrogation style bright lights and leaky roofs to ride. At least they look good.

Posted from Android

Thanks for the update. Does this set have to go to Pueblo, or has that step been met already?

I believe this Airo set tested at Pueblo last October or so.

Posted from iPhone

czephyr17 Wrote:
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> I believe this Airo set tested at Pueblo last
> October or so.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Thanks!

amtrakbill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I saw on a LinkedIn posting that Amtrak has
> “conditionally” accepted the first delivery of
> an Areo train set that’s destined to the Pacific
> Northwest
>
> Not sure what that means for this set of equipment
> but hopefully it will be moved to Seattle shortly
> so crews can be trained on its operation
>
> There are now 3 Areo trainsets sitting in
> Philadelphia
>
> Thanks Bill
>
> Posted from iPhone

Hmmmmm. Everything seems to sit at Phiadelpnhia Penn Coach Yard.............Lets hope that it gets moved out to service - sooner than later, unlike the Acela NextGen Train stes. UGH!

I know the second set didn't go to Pueblo, and I don't think the third one did either. It sounds like the pueblo part is done, at least for the eight Cascades Airos.

"Airo" might be "Error."

highballer1 Wrote:
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> My gosh, it took nine months from the time it(the
> first trainset) left Pueblo to get
> “conditionally certified?” Wonders never
> cease.

These Airos are nothing more than new and "improved" Chargers and Venture coaches. 

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> These Airos are nothing more than new and
> "improved" Chargers and Venture coaches. 

This seems to be the case to us outsiders.  Why, then, do they need all this testing?  Are they really that different?  I guess maybe so, or they wouldn't need all the testing?  But why do they need testing on the NEC?

Airo trains test on the NEC because Amtrak owns the track. They can "test" whenever and wherever without freight train interference.

Did Amtrak ever test the Surfliner Cars and or even the Horizon cars.
When they first started rolling out?

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

CP8888 Wrote:
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> Airo trains test on the NEC because Amtrak owns
> the track. They can "test" whenever and wherever
> without freight train interference.

Apparently metro north does not let them test on their tracks from N.Y. to New Haven. This is causing heat between Amtrak and metro north

Posted from iPhone

amtrakbill Wrote:

> Apparently metro north does not let them test on
> their tracks from N.Y. to New Haven. This is
> causing heat between Amtrak and metro north

A lot of things do. Quite frankly, they are both  jerks. 
Next Gen did some catenary damage on MNR, hence the ban . Amtrak says they paid for it. MNR says no they didn't.
Amtrak does not show up very often for Penn Station Access work in the Bronx for MNR crews to work, pushing off the project 2 years, and Amtrak is very difficult in general to work with. MNR abandoned the idea of 3rd rail extension from Harold to GATE
MNR stabs Amtrak all the time between Harmon and Poughkeepsie, making UP and NS look like choir boys by comparison.
 

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> amtrakbill Wrote:
>
> > Apparently metro north does not let them test
> on
> > their tracks from N.Y. to New Haven. This is
> > causing heat between Amtrak and metro north
>
> A lot of things do. Quite frankly, they are both 
> jerks. 
> Next Gen did some catenary damage on MNR, hence
> the ban . Amtrak says they paid for it. MNR says
> no they didn't.
> Amtrak does not show up very often for Penn
> Station Access work in the Bronx for MNR crews to
> work, pushing off the project 2 years, and Amtrak
> is very difficult in general to work with. MNR
> abandoned the idea of 3rd rail extension from
> Harold to GATE
> MNR stabs Amtrak all the time between Harmon and
> Poughkeepsie, making UP and NS look like choir
> boys by comparison.
>  

Many public agencies act like they are accountable to no one.  Which is often true.

Despite being trainsets assigned to a single service, the new Casecades trains will make a big impact for system-wide capacity as they will free up the Amfleets and road diesels currently assigned to those trains. It was under-appriciated how many Metroliner Amfleets the Acelas freed up for use on other services like Downeaster, Ethan Allen, 5-car Keystones, Virginia Regionals, etc.. 

As of today, the Cascades Airo sets will free up only 14 Amfleet coaches and six Amfleet food service cars (plus maybe three more Amfleets now gone east for heavy work). And I figure we'll only be able to keep six of the eight Cascades Airo sets in service at any one time, making it difficult to impossible to avoid trip cancellations and busing. That's why I'm really hoping that Oregon and Washington keep Oregon's two Cascades Talgos, which are not yet aged out but could use some refreshing, in the mix.

Maybe a set of Amfleet cars will stay in the Cascades.
As there is interest building in other parts of the region 
to add service. 

NPRocky Wrote:
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> As of today, the Cascades Airo sets will free up
> only 14 Amfleet coaches and six Amfleet food
> service cars (plus maybe three more Amfleets now
> gone east for heavy work). And I figure we'll only
> be able to keep six of the eight Cascades Airo
> sets in service at any one time, making it
> difficult to impossible to avoid trip
> cancellations and busing. That's why I'm really
> hoping that Oregon and Washington keep Oregon's
> two Cascades Talgos, which are not yet aged out
> but could use some refreshing, in the mix.

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

should we start a pool for the revenue inservice date