“These new locomotives will offer increased reliability, more hauling power, improved safety features and lower emissions,” says Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson.
“Siemens Mobility is honored and grateful to Amtrak for this opportunity to assist Amtrak in their mission to provide safe, world-class, environmentally conscious technology for their long-distance services,” says Michael Cahill, president of Siemens Mobility’s North America rolling stock business.
Capable of speeds up to 125 mph, the locomotives will have 4,400 hp-capable, 16-cylinder diesel engines with modern control systems and A.C. propulsion. The diesel engine will come equipped with the latest Tier 4 emissions technology, reducing nitrogen oxide by more than 89 percent and particulate matter by 95 percent, and provide an average of 10 percent savings in diesel fuel consumption.
Delivery of the new locomotives will begin in summer 2021, with passenger service beginning in fall 2021. They will power trains used on the Auto Train, California Zephyr, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, City of New Orleans, Coast Starlight, Crescent, Empire Builder, Lake Shore Limited, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, and Texas Eagle. All locomotives are expected to be in service by 2024. Maintenance activities across the network will be supported by a supplemental multiyear Technical Support Spares Supply Agreement.
Amtrak is paying for the new locomotives through available funds and will comply with Buy American provisions. They will be built at Siemens Mobility’s rail manufacturing plant in Sacramento, Calif., a facility which uses solar power and employs more than 1,300 people.
Charger locomotives are currently operating in several state-supported Amtrak routes in California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, and Washington.
The new locomotives will primarily replace the aging GE-built P40 and P42 locomotives, some of which have been in service for more than 25 years.
Do I have the math right? $11 Million EACH?? I know locomotives have continued to rise in price, but the last I had seen they were in the $4 Million range. If anyone is aware of the reason for the high sticker price, please enlighten me.
I hope the new locos will still have trains to pull by the year 2021.
Who says that Progress Rail is slowly dying, unless it comes from Progress Rail themselves but I disagree as they are doing good Rebuilds on old EMDs and I have been hearing positive things from Metrolink on the F125s. To me this all continues to sound like a bunch of rumors to make Progress Rail look bad.
Yes I was and am aware of the many failures that the F125s had At first but things are changing now and plus if something bad was going on with Progress Rail I am sure we would hear it here on NEWSWIRE.
And if Amtrak did chose the F125s, the public (non railfans) will just see it as there Train that will take them to where they need to go and will just sit back and enjoy the ride unless it is running several hours late but not all delays are caused by locomotive problems.
I see the F125s as a Great locomotive and so do other people including Metrolink Conductors and Engineers. And sometimes I even see commuters and passengers even take photos of these locomotives and are completely unaware of the problems that they have had.
Yes Siemens won the bid for new Amtrak locomotives but money could have been a factor here too. Most railfans that I know are unaware of what is going on with Progress Rail and are assuming that it is all rumors.
Plus one friend that I know that knows what goes on at Amtrak was aware of the company’s that sent proposals to Amtrak on new long distance locomotives and they were Progress Rail, Motive Power Industries, GE, and Siemens. Yes the winner was Siemens but since Progress Rail was 1 of them then I am assuming that they are getting it together. Some things take a while to work out the problems.
Ugly locomotives? I’ll admit they aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing units. But Then again, I wasn’t terribly fond of the F40s either. Yes there are multiple spotting differences, but there are also a number of similarities between the Siemens units, and the F125s. I kinda think a lot of it is that this is something new, and most of us aren’t used to it yet. Just be glad that progress is being made to procure new equipment.
Where is there a state supported Amtrak route in Iowa? Maybe on the drawing board….
Ok…. After all the bad press through the year calling into question Amtrak’s resolve to maintain the LD routes, this is certainly a breath of fresh air and a move in the right direction. I’ll be really breathing a sigh of relief when an order for Superliner replacements are announced.
Now, onto fantasy land. With the collapse (no pun intended) of the Nippon Sharyo order for bilevel cars due to issues with the crashworthiness of the cars, that means, as far as I’m aware, there are no cars in production or anywhere in the pipeline that would be a direct replacement for the existing Superliner fleet. This is shown by the states of CA, OR, and IL opting to go with the Siemens Brightline style cars, all single level. While a direct seat for seat fleet replacement would mean each train would likely need to be 1.5 – 2 times their current length, it does open some interesting possibilities. 3 in particular come to mind. 1) A return of the Vista done bubble that is above the car body, giving the passengers a complete 360 degree view. 2) Many on the blogs have advocated to run 2 trains on each route daily instead of the current 1. These would be run 12 hours opposite each other. This way, car counts and train lengths stay comparable. 3) No more dividing of the National network due to clearance restrictions on the east coast. This could allow Amtrak to restructure the trains, now giving a one seat ride from Emeryville (or LA, or Seattle) to NY (or Boston, or DC, etc) Wasn’t it a NYC president or chairman that bemoaned the fact a hog can go coast to coast in the same car, but a person can’t.?
Who says Progress Rail is slowly Dying, unless this is someone
I sincerely hope and wish that the seventy-five new Siemens Charger locomotives Amtrak is ordering will have the sleek nose similar to what Brightline’s Siemens Chargers possess. The trains they will pull would look so much more complete and stylish with the sleek noses as already demonstrated on Brightline trains.
For the love of God…please not another boring paint scheme!
Ryan Hahn,
Caterpillar/Progress Rail is slowly dying, you’ll notice that no other transit agencies have ordered F125s, instead opting for the Siemens Chargers…there’s a reason for that, it also makes sense for Amtrak to have their fleet manufactured by the same company that produced the ACS-64(I’m sure the electrical components are similar if not the same, which saves on repairs and parts). As for looks, the only people that care what they look like are railfans, the railroads and passengers only care that it runs and keep the train on time(as long as the railroad doesn’t delay it).
Oh well it’s nice while the GE P40DC and the P42DC genesis’s while they lasted i hope they find other operations on amtrak, or if they find other careers
Plus I am pretty sure that other railroads are only concerned about the reliability of how well they operate; not about that they didn’t meet certain requirements at first or that one popped off the tracks while in transit.
I know that Siemens is busy, but a two and a half year lead before delivery?
Shame What a Shame, Amtrak should have gone with the F125s cause they are becoming more and more reliable now and plus by the time we reach the year 2021, I’m sure that the F125s would have all the problems resolved by that time plus they would be out much sooner if it was the F125s.
The F125s are Not a fail, (yes they didn’t get off to a good start at first I am well aware of) but not every new locomotive gets off to a good start. Plus I have heard of the stupid Siemens Chargers having break downs when they first entered revenue service in some areas.
Amtrak just had to pick the most ugly locomotives out there. It’s just more and more ugly locomotives being sold to U.S. Passenger Railroads. Shame