If Amtrak gets the money for new equipment purchases, somebody will fill the void--Bombardier, Colorado Railcar, or some Chinese or Japanese company--even if they have to set up a shell subsidiary in the US to do the final assembly. But please note that I said IF Amtrak gets the money for new equipment purchases--and that's a big IF in today's political climate.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
The President has to propose a capital equipment procurement appropriation.
The Congress has to buy into it. Alternatively, the Congress can appropriate the money over the President's desires.
The President signs the legislation.
Only then can a procurement action go forward.
The other reason Amtrak may or may not choose Rader as a vendor is CAPACITY. Can he churn out a 400 car order in 20 months? Hmmmm?
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
It is Amtrak that would make the initial proposal, not the President. Of course, Congress is responsible for authorizing and allocating funds, and the President ultimately signs off on it.
I suspect Mr. Kummant is already thinking about how to pursue equipment purchases, and I wouldn't be surprised if he presents a list soon after S.294 passes.
Posted by Jerome Nicholson (Member # 3116) on :
I certainly hope that includes new single-level equipment for the East. BTW, I recall Amtrak was offered some Talgo trainsets a while ago but Amtrak didn't have the funds. I wonder if that could be revived?
Posted by ehbowen (Member # 4317) on :
quote:Originally posted by PullmanCo: The other reason Amtrak may or may not choose Rader as a vendor is CAPACITY. Can he churn out a 400 car order in 20 months? Hmmmm?
I know this is just a pipe dream, but rather than order 400 cars for delivery in 20 months, followed by a fifteen-year dry spell of no new equipment at all, suppose Amtrak and its government sponsor committed to purchasing 15-20 new cars per year, each year, on an ongoing permanent basis?
We may never again see the likes of Pullman, Budd, and ACF engaged in heated competition to equip new fleets of streamliners, but I can't stop hoping that there might be SOME KIND of a consistent and predictable supply of and demand for rail passenger equipment in this country.
Posted by delvyrails (Member # 4205) on :
Only 15-20 per year probably would be far too few to make economic production possible.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
Bombardier lost money on the Superliner II's, Pullman lost even more on the I's. There's no money to be made manufacturing Superliners. So even if Amtrak was ready to order more, they wouldn't be made.
The only way I can see more Supers being manufactured is to up the price per car. I believe the Super II's went for 2 million a piece (1994 dollars). And the current Amtrak would unlikely be able to get funding for 1994 prices let alone an increase.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
OK, this might sound like heresy, but aren't there producers of rail cars in Great Britain or the rest of Europe or even Asia that Amtrak could purchase from? After all, we're constantly told that it's a global economy. Maybe there is some ligislation that I'm unaware of prohibiting Amtrak from procuring foreign products?
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
Amtrak's Beech Grove shop has proven to be very adept at rebuilding old Superliners, even manufacturing parts from scratch. Might Beech Grove have now gained enough experience to build entire cars from the wheels up?
Posted by Geoff M (Member # 153) on :
We (UK) buy from Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens, or Hitachi nowadays. But don't you (US) have some kind of "final build in US" kind of requirement for certain industries?
Geoff M.
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
Yes, but it is more like a final assembly. Almost a put the kit together from major assemblies made elsewhere.
Mr. Toy, Beech Grove probably could. If we could get the Budd Style stainless steel body shells fabricated, then they could probably do the rest. So far no one has figured out the true life expectancy of one of these body shells so long as you don't hit it too hard or drop it too far. There are plenty rolling around that are sixty or more years old now.
George
Posted by gp35 (Member # 3971) on :
I was thinking maybe the Russians can build the coaches at a good price.