WASHINGTON — Amtrak has published Requests for Qualifications for maintenance facilities in Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, part of a program build or upgrade more than 20 sites nationally for new trainsets.
Two requests are currently active. One is for Seattle, where Amtrak is hoping to gain permission to close a street, which would a significant expansion of capacity [see “Amtrak, BNSF seek closure of Seattle street …,” Trains News Wire, June 21, 2023]. The other is for facilities at Southampton Yard in Boston, Sunnyside Yard in New York, and Ivy City Yard in Washington.
“These new facilities and modifications at existing rail yards will help modernize our maintenance practices and ensure a seamless transition from Amtrak’s aging fleet to modern, state-of-the-art equipment,” Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president, capital delivery, said in a press release.
and yet they don’t allocate money to Bear,Del shops to repair the wrecked cars in storage there so they would be more available cars for East coast LD trains
Amtrak needs to be reminded that there is more to the network than the NEC.
This is a start in the right direction for Amtrak. With any transportation company be it railroads, airlines, ships or motor vehicles, the key to efficient operation and reliable service is having first class maintenance facilities to maintain and repair equipment and get it out on the line and as quickly as possible. Amtrak is stuck with old aging railcars and locomotive with most of them in outdated worn out repair shops including a shortage of parts to repair the equipment. Also since the pandemic the vast majority of workers have either been furloughed or let go or most have either retired or moved on to other jobs in other industries taking with them years of experience and know how. So Amtrak also has to hire and train a new generation of workers to maintain and repair the new equipment coming into service. Of course this takes time and money but over time it can and will work and Amtrak or any rail carrier to turn the corner and take its rughtful place in the transportation network to move people from place to place.
Joseph C. Markfelder
Future facility upgrades will help improve service reliability, enable more efficient maintenance practices and support anticipated ridership growth. With the upcoming arrival of new Acela trainsets, the construction of Amtrak Airo trainsets, and the process of replacing decades-old Long-Distance railcars, these improvements will benefit Amtrak’s existing and future fleet as the company delivers a new era of rail.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün