Siemens Awarded $466 Million Locomotive Contract by Amtrak

/PRNewswire/ -- Siemens today announced that it has been awarded a $466 million contract to build 70 electric locomotives for Amtrak's Northeast and Keystone Corridor lines as part of Amtrak's landmark fleet rejuvenation initiative. The contract will require an additional 250 people to build the locomotives, with 200 in Sacramento, Calif. and 50 collectively in Norwood, Ohio and Alpharetta, Ga.

The locomotives will be built at Siemens' existing light rail manufacturing facility in Sacramento, Calif. The plant, which has been in operation for 26 years, is powered up to 80 percent by two megawatts of solar energy and employs 750 people. All main components of the new locomotive will be produced in Siemens plants in the United States – including the motors in Alpharetta and propulsion containers in Norcross, Ga. The first locomotives will be delivered in 2013.

"As the global leader in rail innovation, we are thrilled that Amtrak has selected our proven locomotive technology and that this project will create 250 new green manufacturing jobs in the United States," said Daryl Dulaney, president and CEO, Siemens Industry, Inc. "These locomotives will be built in America using renewable energy and provide cleaner, more efficient movement of people on the most heavily traveled rail route in the country."

"Amtrak is a critical transportation provider in the Northeast and modern locomotives are essential to meet the service reliability expectations of our passengers and for us to handle the growing ridership demand in the coming years," said President and CEO Joseph Boardman.

Siemens is already a successful producer of American light rail trains with every third light rail vehicle in the United States being a Siemens train. The new Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS64) is based on Siemens latest iteration of the proven EuroSprinter electric locomotive. Over 1,600 units are in operation worldwide, and this latest version will be customized to meet the strenuous environment of the Northeast Corridor at a sustained speed of 125 mph.

"This isn't your grandfather's locomotive. Not only will we use renewable energy to build them, the locomotives will also include energy efficient features, such as regenerative braking that can feed up to 100 percent of the energy generated during braking back to the power grid," said Oliver Hauck, president of the Mobility Division of Siemens Industry, Inc.

The current locomotive platform has been designed for improved safety, reliability and maintainability. The Amtrak-specific design also meets the latest Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requirements for front end strength, incorporating a crumple zone for collision with large objects in addition to an enhanced safety cage and anti-climber functionality.

This equipment purchase is part of Amtrak's multi-year Fleet Strategy Plan to replace its entire fleet of passenger rail cars and locomotives over the next 30 years. Amtrak is the largest passenger rail operator on the North American continent and the only operator of a high-speed line.

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