That would be the Siemens built midwest fleet cars first deployment from the Factory.
The Land of Enchantment is not Flyover country!
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The project will replace deteriorated, outdated passenger cab-baggage and coach cars used in the Chicago–Milwaukee Amtrak Hiawatha Service with three single-level cab-coach cars and six single-level coach cars. Replacement of the cab-baggage cars with cab-coach cars will increase seating capacity, reduce fuel consumption, increase equipment reliability, reduce crowding, and improve accessibility for passengers with disabilitiesAnybody familiar enough to go into specifics on the capacity increase mentioned? If I recall correctly typically the two trainsets each run with 6 coaches with 70-ish seats. This story talks about nine new cars (not twelve). Does anybody have more specifics on new versus old here, including the capacity bump? It will be great to have more seats on the morning southbounds, especially.
gokeefe wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 5:32 pm The capacity increase is due to the elimination of the ex-F40 "cabbage" cars. Only seats in these cars at present are for the crew in the cab.Replacing “cabbage” cars with cab cars will certainly add capacity. Never-the-less, 9 brand new cars seating around 70 passengers each is not going to equal 12 old cars seating around 70 passengers each being retired; we are at least 3 cars short seating around 210 passengers in total within the two train sets. The only way to compensate for this lack of seats is run more trains on this corridor or borrow other new cars from other Midwest trains.
gokeefe wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:01 pm Based on this video I would have guess the Amfleet coaches are being replaced. Cafe cars would likely stay (I don't recall these being on the Hiawatha previously) but if you figure one cab coach + new coach added to each train set then you have additional seating. The net gain is in the cab-coach.They are replacing older cars, not adding new cars to the older cars.
David Benton wrote: ↑Fri Aug 23, 2019 10:31 pm So a cab car with passengers is ok off the NEC/ keystone? I thought it was frowned upon (or not permitted)due to potential grade crossing / freight traffic accidents?I expect that Siemens has managed to convince the FRA that their designs are substantially safer than the Metroliners.