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  • Siemens to manufacture 83 Airo Intercity Trainsets for Amtrak: Design, Delivery, Acceptance

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1595544  by rcthompson04
 
lordsigma12345 wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:57 pm A little more info has been on how these new trainsets will work. As stated earlier they will have a Charger locomotive on one end with a cab coach on the other end with the cab section of the cab coach based off the Charger cab. There will be four types of the ICTs. The diesel variant which will be able to operate with an SC-44 locomotive will be used on the Cascades. The other variants will use the new dual mode Charger (ALC-42E) which can be powered by its on board diesel engine or via electricity provided by a trailing business class/power car known as an auxiliary propulsion vehicle (APV). Two versions that will operate on the NEC will utilize a catenary auxiliary propulsion vehicle which will contain the pantograph, and transformer cabinets. Power will be relayed to the traction motors on the Charger locomotive as well as a powered truck on the APV which will together provide the required acceleration for operating on the NEC mainline. One variant will have 8 passenger coaches and will operate the Northeast Regional services including those which head into Connecticut and Virginia. The other will have 6 coaches and will operate the Pennsylvanian, Keystones, Vermonter, Carolinian, Downeaster, and Palmetto. The final variant will have an APV containing batteries which will provide power to the Charger when operating near Penn Station and will be used on the Empire Service, Adirondack, Maple Leaf, and Ethan Allen Express.
Interesting the Downeaster would have an APV car when it would be unlikely to use it anywhere along its route. You would think the battery version would be better than the electric version.
 #1595547  by west point
 
Carolina to only have 6 cars ? Someone needs to inform NC DOT. Present Carolinian and who knows what the loads could be in the future? Amtrak will be artificially limiting Carolinian ridership. Appears to be another effort to limit LD train travel? Palmetto is another train that often sells out now. (Pre C-19)
 #1595552  by RandallW
 
I remember when the the Carolinian started, it was only two cars south of DC (north of DC it was a "regular" NEC train). I think in the last decade, it has only been six passenger cars south of DC. I think the bigger concern is that the Carolinian carries a baggage car for unboxed bicycles and that is going to be lost unless there are provisions for bicycle transport in these train sets.
 #1595554  by lordsigma12345
 
I’m guessing the reason for assigning to the Downeaster is to make it interoperable with the other nearby services that actually operate on the NEC and to give a little flexibility in shifting equipment around as needed. As the 6 and 8 car catenary sets will be functionality interoperable they don’t necessarily have to be locked to certain trains. If there’s certain Regional frequencies running lighter and a train like the Carolinian has a busy period where it needs more seats switching between the 6 and 8 car trainsets based on seasonal and periodic demand is likely a fairly simple matter.

The contract also includes a number of options which include equipment to replace the Amfleet II. So we could ultimately see some variations on this equipment come through some of the options. Amtrak has not decided if they will exercise the Amfleet II option on this contract or instead deal with them as part of the Superliner focused LD equipment order.
 #1595565  by Bob Roberts
 
west point wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:46 pm Carolina to only have 6 cars ? Someone needs to inform NC DOT. Present Carolinian and who knows what the loads could be in the future? Amtrak will be artificially limiting Carolinian ridership. Appears to be another effort to limit LD train travel? Palmetto is another train that often sells out now. (Pre C-19)
Hmmm, that is a head scratcher. Capacity was the thing holding the Carolinian back from significant profitability pre pandemic. The current 5 coach consist (plus cafe plus bag) is the max possible due to the size of the current storage siding in Charlotte. A new (larger) storage facility has been built and its been finished for a while, but it will not be used (or connected to the NS main) until Gateway station opens in a few (they say two, but it looks like it will be longer) years.

Perhaps giving Amtrak planners too much credit but, its possible they are assuming the S-Line and the new Potomac bridge will be open which would allow for significantly higher frequency from Charlotte to the corridor? (Thus justifying the short consists?)
 #1595762  by ST Saint
 
west point wrote: Fri Apr 15, 2022 11:24 am
Alex M wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2022 7:44 am I don't know if it was mentioned anywhere else, but are these trainsets semi permanently coupled or conventional or some combination thereof?
I believe that the cars actually share a 2-axel truck at each end of the car with the adjacent car. Amtrak does have an option to purchase more cars to add to some train sets. Hove not heard how many cars can be added. Suspect that the platform lengths at NYP may be the only limitation? To add or subtract cars it will take a facility that can jack up cars to disconnect any BO car.
You're thinking of the Avelia Liberty trainsets. All renderings of the ICTs I've seen are standard coaches, without shared trucks, regardless of coupling set up.
Image
 #1596777  by BandA
 
rcthompson04 wrote: Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:35 pm Interesting the Downeaster would have an APV car when it would be unlikely to use it anywhere along its route. You would think the battery version would be better than the electric version.
The Downeaster could presumably use the regenerative braking to improve energy efficiency
 #1602461  by PHLSpecial
 
This order while large seems to be short on seats? I'm curious of they will slap on one or two more cars to make it 11 car sets instead of the current 9 car sets for some of the sets
NEC Current: 1 ACS64 + 6-11 Amfleets
New order: 1 ALC42E + 7 venture cars + 1 cab venture (9 car set)
Possible add-on: 1 ALC42E + 9 venture cars + 1 cab venture (11 car set)
For context New Acela: 2 power cars + 9 passenger cars (11 car set)

I understand funding is not set for project yet. I'm aware there is addition option for 130 trainsets. It's a bit ambitious but the NEC ridership is going to continue to grow
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