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Moderator: lensovet

 #1115760  by Jeff Smith
 
Examiner

There's a fairly healthy discussion going on in the Amtrak forum, but I thought this was also relevant to Caltrans.
Illinois-based Nippon Sharyo awarded $352M contract to build high-speed railcars

Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secretary Ann L. Schneider and leaders from Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA) to announce that Illinois-based Nippon Sharyo has been awarded a $352 million contract from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

...

The awarding of the contract from a joint procurement between IDOT and Caltrans is the final step in a first of its kind multi-state procurement that will also see new railcars delivered to Michigan and Missouri. California will buy 42 railcars and the Midwest coalition will buy 88 railcars, which will operate out of Amtrak’s Chicago hub. The competitively-bid contract for 130 state-of-the-art, bi-level passenger railcars was won by Sumitomo Corporation of America, which will deliver these railcars through Rochelle, Illinois-based railcar manufacturer Nippon Sharyo. This next generation equipment procurement is being funded through the Federal Railroad Administration and has met all requirements to ensure that the final assembly be prepared by American workers, with American-sourced steel, iron and manufactured components.

...

“By pooling our resources, all four states involved in this partnership can purchase the equipment at lower costs because it will be acquired in high volume under one contract,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty in a statement. “These new railcars will help us meet the growing ridership demand on California trains, which is up 53 percent since 2002.”
 #1116032  by kaitoku
 
lensovet wrote:So is this for CAHSR service? I'm somewhat confused by the involvement of Caltrans here, especially given that some of their Amtrak operations are slated to be overtaken by local boards?
No, it's for Caltrans Amtrak California services. Nothing to do with CAHSR.
 #1116247  by lensovet
 
kaitoku wrote:
lensovet wrote:So is this for CAHSR service? I'm somewhat confused by the involvement of Caltrans here, especially given that some of their Amtrak operations are slated to be overtaken by local boards?
No, it's for Caltrans Amtrak California services. Nothing to do with CAHSR.
i didn't realize we needed "high-speed" railcars…