Following the Alstom “NextGen Acela” rollout and the Siemens Mobility Airo debut, Amtrak has released a video on its maintenance facility program to support “next-generation” and existing trainsets.
“Here at Amtrak, we’re building a new era of rail,” Amtrak Assistant Vice President, Railyards & Facilities Martita Mullen said in the Feb. 18 video (watch below). “Not only are we launching the new fleet, but we’re also building state-of-the-art new facilities across the network that will be here for decades to come to keep the trains running smoothly.”
The roughly $4 billion facilities program includes six “level one” and approximately 18 “level two” facilities. “The level one facilities are in our major hub locations,” Mullen said. “These are larger facilities where we’ll do more extensive maintenance, and the level two facilities are in satellite locations where we’ll be performing more minor maintenance work on the fleet.”
The level one facilities are being developed in Seattle, Wash. (King Street Yard); Boston, Mass. (Southampton Yard); Queens, N.Y. (Sunnyside Yard); Philadelphia, Pa. (Philadelphia Yard); Washington, D.C. (Ivy City Yard); and Rensselaer, N.Y.
They will “allow full trainsets to be inspected and serviced together, reducing downtime and improving efficiency,” according to Amtrak. They will also help “America’s Railroad” keep equipment “in better condition, improve operational performance, and ensure trains are ready for customers every day.”
“Our vision is for the equipment to come in at the end of a revenue run, get spotted within the building, protection applied, and then all of the maintenance can be done in line with that equipment where it’s spotted,” Amtrak Senior Director Intercity Trainsets Derek Maier said in the video.
“With new trainsets and these new facilities, we can expect to see less unnecessary downtime for the equipment and more efficient maintenance,” Maier continued. “By building facilities for trainsets, we can design the equipment to not need to uncouple nearly as often as we have in the past. So what that means is more reliable intercar connections, improved gangways and transitions between the cars for passengers, improved accessibility on board. …”
The Federal Railroad Administration is playing a key role in the maintenance facility program. “The team at FRA has really been a true partner throughout the facility investment process,” Mullen said. “Not only does FRA provide us with the funding to construct these projects, but FRA has really been a great resource for our team and for Amtrak in terms of providing us with guidance and support throughout the construction process.”
Further Reading:
- No Clear Track Ahead
- OIG to Amtrak: Improved Facilities Planning Needed to Support New Trains
- For Amtrak, ‘A Year of Records’
- Amtrak Breaks Ground on Southampton Rail Yard Modernization Project in Boston
- Amtrak and Partners to Break Ground on Ivy City Rail Yard Modernization Project in Washington, D.C.
- Amtrak Awards Three Design-Build Contracts for East Coast Rail Yard Modernization Projects
- Amtrak King Street Yard Upgrade Under Way
- Amtrak OIG: LDFR Program ‘High Risk’
- Amtrak Issues RFP to Replace Long-Distance Fleet
