Builders of New Passenger Cars

Anybody care to wade into the water as to who might be the likely manufacturer of future Amtrak Revenue Rolling Stock?

How could you guess what manufacturer when there is no specifications or RFP yet ??
there is not even money in budget yet.
If you mean who could built next order of probably single level passenger cars??
Alstom
Bombardier
Kawasaki
Rotem

all others are just small fries and won't be able to built any big order.

I hope it is Kawasaki but knowing Amtrak it will most likely be
Bombardier. Amtrak did have wording in its budget a few years back for new Amfleet replacements. However, that was long term and only if money was availible.

On an operational note I hope Amtrak takes the plunge for EP brakes
with any new fleet order. The Amfleets came equipped with EP brake
but some wag thought that they were a maintenance headache and had
the apparatus disconnected or removed.

Kawasaki would be an interesting choice. I don't think they have even built a intercity passenger coach even in their native Japan (yes, train sets but not a separate coach).

I saw that VRE ordered 50 bi-level coaches from Kawasaki in the last couple days. That's not intercity. I'm just mentioning it.

DutchRailnut wrote:If you mean who could built next order of probably single level passenger cars??
Alstom
Bombardier
Kawasaki
Rotem

Colorado Railcar (or whatever they call themselves these days)?

Colorado car is no way even elligable, first they only produce 5 or 6 cars a year, second they have never produced a stainless steel car.

Nippon Sharyo was prime contractor for the most recent deliveries of METRA cabs and cars. A major subcontract for carbody fabrication was let to Super Steel, Milwaukee.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1342446 ... 2115cjdMnv

As Mr. Railnut notes, Colorado Railcar builds specialty cars that are fabricated with carbon steel. That is one thing for an operator such as the land cruiselines (and their Love Tub "parents") that are prepared to devote "TLC" to their fleet - something different for a public transit agency that never has or will have enough funding to properly maintain their fleet (Mr. Railnut, is your Metro North really any better in that area than Amtrak - was that potty I was sitting adjacent to on 1451-12OCT- ever so "pungent").

Somehow, I think doubt could be raised if any builder that has maybe built 100 "specialty" cars since its inception could even be considered a responsible bidder for an order of 200 cars (that is what I think Amtrak would be looking for to reequip the Regionals) to be fabricated from stainless steel.

But two things of which I'm certain; there will be an order placed during this decade for new Corridor cars, and that the foreign prime contractor will have substantial work, especially final assembly (better photo op for pols with cars rolling off an assembly line than being unglamourously off loaded from a ship), done here in the US.

What has Rotem built yet in the US? I know we're awaiting for Septa's new Silverliners, but what's to say they're lemons?

Is there a bid our for new Amtrak cars? If not, off to Equipment Forum this goes...

-otto-