Acela II RFP information announcement

[afigg]

Another news article on how the contracts & funding for the new trainsets will be finalized soon. We mean it this time! USA Today (Aug 8): Amtrak's Acela to run faster new trains on Washington to Boston route. Excerpt:

RATON, N.M. – Amtrak plans to run new, faster trains on the busy Northeast Corridor with locomotives pulling passengers at up to 160 mph in sections.

The $2.5 billion project to be announced later this month will replace the now-20-year-old Acela Express trains with new locomotives and passenger coaches.

The trains, which can run at higher speeds, will travel the busy route between Boston and Washington, D.C., and will decrease travel times slightly, Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman told USA TODAY.

The new trains will come on line three years from now, said Boardman, who is retiring next month.

“You’re going to see a well-improved Northeast Corridor service,” Boardman said Friday while aboard a train in New Mexico.

 

[jis]

At least this time it is from Joe Boardman and not from Mr. Loudmouth Microphone.

 

[Bob Dylan]

At least this time it is from Joe Boardman and not from Mr. Loudmouth Microphone.

Is that any way to refer to the next Majority Leader of the Senate? (hopefully!)

 

[PVD]

he is loud, he can really be annoying, and he will beat whoever runs against him in the next election by 20 points, because the people that he needs to satisfy in parts of NY other than NYC ( which he would win easily) connect with events like this. When Clinton ran for the Senate in NY, they tried to brand her a carpetbagger, and the guy who ran against her (born on Long Island) was less up to speed on upstate NY issues than her, and got crushed for it.

 

[OEBB]

Three years and they will be running? That's laughable. If they stuck with that timeline they might be running before the new Viewliners!! Hah!

 

[afigg]

Three years and they will be running? That's laughable. If they stuck with that timeline they might be running before the new Viewliners!! Hah!

Amtrak received a waiver from the FRA that allows for the first 2 HSR trainsets to be built overseas at an existing manufacturing facility. That will allow Amtrak to get 2 trainsets for what is going to be a lengthy testing and certification process while the Hornell plant and the US parts suppliers are ramping up on production of the next 26 units.

Also, Alstom has had a long lead time waiting for the contract and funding to be finalized. They should have used that time to assemble key members of the project management and engineering team to get a start on planning and engineering documents so they can quickly ramp up the design, part orders, and manufacturing tasks once the contract is signed. Three years to the delivery of the first batch of US made trainsets may be reasonable. We shall see.

 

[jis]

And Alstom has already built mainline rolling stock in the American environment (actually even built in Hornell) and delivered them successfully. That logistical experience will come in handy to avoid some of the pitfalls that CAF faced.

 

[PRR 60]

And Alstom has already built mainline rolling stock in the American environment (actually even built in Hornell) and delivered them successfully. That logistical experience will come in handy to avoid some of the pitfalls that CAF faced.

Alstom was about two years late with the PATCO car rebuild project, and the delivered cars have had more than their share of teething problems. I would temper my optimism to the cautious side of the range.
By the way, since when are the Acela sets "20 years old" as claimed on the executive tour. The first set was delivered in late 2000 (not quite 16 years old), and the tenth set (midpoint) was delivered in mid-2001 (15 years ago). Sometimes Mr. Boardman seems to lack a grasp of details and technical facts.

 

[Palmetto]

At the rate things go around here, they will probably be 30 years old before their replacements arrive.

 

[jis]

And Alstom has already built mainline rolling stock in the American environment (actually even built in Hornell) and delivered them successfully. That logistical experience will come in handy to avoid some of the pitfalls that CAF faced.

Alstom was about two years late with the PATCO car rebuild project, and the delivered cars have had more than their share of teething problems. I would temper my optimism to the cautious side of the range.
By the way, since when are the Acela sets "20 years old" as claimed on the executive tour. The first set was delivered in late 2000 (not quite 16 years old), and the tenth set (midpoint) was delivered in mid-2001 (15 years ago). Sometimes Mr. Boardman seems to lack a grasp of details and technical facts.

Notice how Pennsylvania seems to be involved in many of these fiascos? CAF excepted of course. Juuust kidding.

How did Alstom do with the Surfliners. I think that is more relevant in this context.

Of course Alstom also inherited the followup stuff with the Viewliner Is too.

 

[WoodyinNYC]

"… will replace the now-20-year-old Acela Express trains with new locomotives and passenger coaches."


… since when are the Acela sets "20 years old" as claimed on the executive tour. The first set was delivered in late 2000 (not quite 16 years old), and the tenth set (midpoint) was delivered in mid-2001 (15 years ago). Sometimes Mr. Boardman seems to lack a grasp of details and technical facts.

We don't know for sure if Boardman said the Acelas are "now" 20 years old. It's not in quotes. Maybe Boardman told the reporter the Acelas will be 20 years old when they're replaced but it got garbled in writing and editing.

If Boardman did say 'they are now 20 years old', remember, he is always actually speaking to CongressCritters. They think train cars should last 20 years (not unreasonably). But they could easily forget about "will be 20 years when replaced". So if Boardman vastly over-simplified the age count to meet the level of understanding of his audience, bureaucrats do this all the time.

 

[Acela150]

And Alstom has already built mainline rolling stock in the American environment (actually even built in Hornell) and delivered them successfully. That logistical experience will come in handy to avoid some of the pitfalls that CAF faced.

Alstom was about two years late with the PATCO car rebuild project, and the delivered cars have had more than their share of teething problems. I would temper my optimism to the cautious side of the range.
By the way, since when are the Acela sets "20 years old" as claimed on the executive tour. The first set was delivered in late 2000 (not quite 16 years old), and the tenth set (midpoint) was delivered in mid-2001 (15 years ago). Sometimes Mr. Boardman seems to lack a grasp of details and technical facts.

Contract was officially signed. A post on the NEC Facebook page has a small article.

As for Alstom delivering Patco cars 2 years late... That's on Patco. Those cars were built by Budd. They weren't meant to be overhauled to what they're at now. Patco should have bought new cars. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. I guess.

 

[jis]

Here is the article about the signing of the contract for Acela IIs with Alstom ...

http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2016/08/16/alstom-amtrak-ink-deal/88827758/

 

[A Voice]

So glad there is Senator Schumer to set the record straight, though.

Schumer said last month the Amtrak trains on the route were first installed in 1994, and the leases for the trains are set to expire in the coming years, requiring the new trains.

 

[Acela150]

Thank you Jis.

 

[jis]

Thank you Jis.

You are most welcome

 

[mrpresident1776]

Boardman might be referring to the design of the Acela trainsets when he talks about 20 years. David Gunn said as much. https://skift.com/2012/12/15/why-amtrak-is-replacing-its-acela-trains-on-the-northeast-corridor/You figure that Acela's traction systems are based on the 3rd generation TGV and that the railcars are based off of the LRC which dates back to the late 70's so it is not a stretch to say that the Acela design is a little elderly.

 

[afigg]

So glad there is Senator Schumer to set the record straight, though.

Schumer said last month the Amtrak trains on the route were first installed in 1994, and the leases for the trains are set to expire in the coming years, requiring the new trains.

I would not pay much attention to incorrect statements such as this (the 1994 part). The statement could have been mangled by the reporter, a staffer given the task of drafting a Schumer "quote" to be released to the press, or Schumer mixing up dates for the Acela pre-selection testing, the contract award, and the Acela deployment. We don't know and it is really not important. Amtrak appears to have been making a point of the Acela lease expiration dates to help nudge the funding and regulatory oversight process along and Schumer or someone in his staff is echoing that.

The big news is that contract has finally been signed. Today is Tuesday, so perhaps there will be a formal press conference later this week where we will get some info on the trainsets Alstom will be providing and what the RRIF loan will be used for (besides paying for the 28 trainsets).

 

[Hal]

I heard there will be a press conference at Wilmington station this afternoon.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[afigg]

I heard there will be a press conference at Wilmington station this afternoon.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

On a Friday afternoon? An unusual time for a press conference if Amtrak wants to get a lot of press coverage on the HSR trainset contract. OTOH, Wilmington would suggest that VP Biden could be in attendance and they may have to fit into Biden's schedule.

We'll see. Boardman has only a few more days as CEO, so he should be motivated to make an official announcement before he departs.

 

[WoodyinNYC]

I heard there will be a press conference at Wilmington station this afternoon.

On a Friday afternoon? ...

Boardman has only a few more days as CEO, so he should be motivated to make an official announcement before he departs.

I'm really glad the signing will be done in Boardman's term. He deserves that respect.

 

[Bob Dylan]

It's the Veep, Amtrak Joe making the Announcement in Wilmington. It's all over the News and Social Media.

Senator Schumer is reportedly furious!

 

[jis]

It's the Veep, Amtrak Joe making the Announcement in Wilmington. It's all over the News and Social Media.

Senator Schumer is reportedly furious!

What does he want. He has already made the announcement half a dozen times, hasn't he?

 

[PRR 60]

It's the Veep, Amtrak Joe making the Announcement in Wilmington. It's all over the News and Social Media.

Senator Schumer is reportedly furious!

What does he want. He has already made the announcement half a dozen times, hasn't he?

On the other hand, he certainly fought long and hard to get this work for Alstom. No matter how annoying and how much of a grandstander he may be, it's a pretty obvious slight to not have him there.

 

[Triley]

I heard there will be a press conference at Wilmington station this afternoon.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

On a Friday afternoon? An unusual time for a press conference if Amtrak wants to get a lot of press coverage on the HSR trainset contract. OTOH, Wilmington would suggest that VP Biden could be in attendance and they may have to fit into Biden's schedule.

We'll see. Boardman has only a few more days as CEO, so he should be motivated to make an official announcement before he departs.

It's already been mentioned elsewhere that Biden will be the one making an announcement. It hadn't been stated what the conference was going to be about, however....