New Amtrak locomotives – made in the U.S. and cleaner, faster, and more fuel efficient than predecessors – began service today pulling the famous Amtrak Empire Builder train westbound from Chicago to Seattle. Locomotives 301 and 302 are among the first of 75 locomotives being delivered through 2024.
These ALC-42 locomotives are an important part of Amtrak’s sustainability initiative and are considerably more environmentally-friendly than their 1990’s predecessors. They reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide by more than 89 percent and particulate matter by 95 percent, while consuming less fuel than the locomotives being retired and reaching a greater top speed, 125 mph.
A team from Amtrak and Siemens Mobility developed this locomotive series for heavier and longer trains traveling thousands of miles in a single trip, spanning the U.S. from Seattle to Miami, Los Angeles to Boston. Hull indicated Amtrak is working with Siemens to order more of these locomotives to meet needs in the Amtrak network, particularly for the Long Distance trains.
These locomotives are Buy America compliant and built at the Siemens Mobility’s rail manufacturing hub in Sacramento, Calif. Powered by the sun with two megawatts of solar energy and 2,200 employees, the facility has been in operation for 30 years. It is part of Siemens Mobility’s larger U.S. manufacturing network, with eight facilities, more than 4,000 employees and 2,000 American suppliers. Siemens Mobility has a robust U.S. supply chain to support locomotive production, including Cummins, which manufactures the Tier-4 complaint diesel engines in Seymour, Ind.
Amtrak is paying for the new locomotives and supplemental multiyear maintenance support with about $850 million in funding set aside when the order was placed in 2019. The new locomotives will primarily replace the Amtrak P40 and P42 locomotives, some of which have been in service for more than 25 years on some state-sponsored routes but primarily on the Long Distance portion of the Amtrak National Network.
These locomotives will power trains used on these services: Auto Train (suburban Washington to suburban Orlando, Fla.), California Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco Bay), Capitol Limited (Washington to Chicago), Cardinal (New York to Chicago), City of New Orleans (Chicago to New Orleans), Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles) Crescent (New York to New Orleans), Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle/Portland), Lake Shore Limited (New York/Boston to Chicago), Palmetto (New York to Savannah, Ga.) Silver Star & Silver Meteor (New York to Miami), Southwest Chief (Chicago to Los Angeles), Sunset Limited (New Orleans to Los Angeles) and Texas Eagle (Chicago to San Antonio, Texas).
-via Press Release