Since the bi-levels are being built with federal funds, Michigan could not sell them, at least not at a profit. A lease to a private company would be iffy. Michigan, however, has plans to expand service, including double day runs on the Pere Marquette and Blue Water and a Holland-Grand Rapids-Lansing-Detroit route, so they would have plenty of trains to use the double-deckers.
That is not an engine. That is an unpowered cab car.
IIRC that is a US spec cab car that had to be created for the US market thanks to our unique focus on surviving crashes rather than avoiding them. Other Talgo hardware in other countries looks sleek and appealing to my eye. That being said I'm not a fan of Talgo's single wheel trucks operating on US spec freight rails. When I rode the Cascades the ride quality was rougher and bumpier than any other industrialized rail network I've ever experienced. It seems to me that having to commute on a route that jarring could make working or sleeping on board rather difficult. Maybe folks who ride the route daily eventually get used to it but I never did.
I messaged MDOT on Twitter asking them about the status of the plan here is their responce:
peter@MichiganDOT said:
I've heard their relationship is a bit more complicated...notably the fact that there's a lack of through booking on, say, the Saratoga and North Creek (the term "Thruway Train" is used with respect to the Grand Canyon Railway, so there's no reason that a similar deal couldn't be done elsewhere).
Related to jis' post re the working relationship between Amtrak and Iowa Pacific and the fact that the Talgos, if run to Michigan from CHI, will travel through Indiana which raises the funding question!!
I know they don't fund Michigan trains, but they will need to invest in infrastructure and track upgrades if they are going to run State funded trains!
Tell that to New Hampshire. Of course there is free lunch, if you can manage to get away with it!
