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*Amtrak Gets $562 Million For Electric Trains*

Posted By *Nino Marchetti* On June 29, 2011 @ 2:30 pm In *Transportation* |
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Amtrak’s attempts<http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/06/a-high-speed-rail-line-republican-style/>at
high
speed rail <http://www.earthtechling.com/tag/high-speed-rail/> may or may
not succeed, but its efforts in more regular rail look to be getting a big
boost today via word from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) of a
massive loan to help the railway purchase and get running new locomotives in
the Northeast portion of the country. We first brought you word of this
proposed purchase between Amtrak and Siemens for 70 electric locomotives back
in October<http://www.earthtechling.com/2010/10/amtrak-moves-to-modernize-aging-trains/>
.

The DOT said <http://www.fra.dot.gov/roa/press_releases/fp_FRA14-11.shtml>it
is giving Amtrak a $562.9 million loan under the Federal Railroad
Administration’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF)
program <http://www.fra.dot.gov/Pages/177.shtml> to help accomplish the
purchase of these 70 Sprinter ACS-64 electric locomotives from Siemens.
Plans call for the manufacturer to add 250 domestic manufacturing jobs in
order to design and build the trains across several states. Additional, it
is believed Siemens will work with suppliers from across the country to
provide train components, “further boosting U.S. manufacturing.”
[image: Amtrak Siemens]

image via Siemens

From what’ve we written about the Sprinter ACS-64
model<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak_Cities_Sprinter>before, we
know it likely will operate at speeds up to 125 mph (201 kph) on
the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston and up to 110 mph
(177 kph) on the Keystone Corridor from Philadelphia to Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania. The 70 Amtrak Cities Sprinter ACS-64 locomotives – said by DOT
to still be in the final design phase – will replace existing units that
have been in service for 20-30 years with an average of 3.5 million miles
traveled.

If all goes as planned, the new trains will begin operating along regional
and intercity routes in 2013 in a more energy efficient manner then previous
ones used. Amtrak also believes they will help “improve frequency,
performance and reliability” to a system not known for being on time most of
the time

--
Mike Muldoon
Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-1880
mmuldoon@rosemontseneca.co