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Talgo trains in production
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Trains on schedule to arrive in Pacific Northwest this summer
Oregon has two new trainsets on order, using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to shore up the state’s investment in passenger rail service. The Spanish-made Talgo trains, being finished in Wisconsin, are scheduled to arrive in Seattle in June 2012. Details about how the trains will be delivered are being finalized. Once they arrive in Seattle, they will undergo testing and employee familiarization trips.
See the trains as they make their way from Spain to Wisconsin and eventually to Oregon, as we add photos to our Flickr site.
New trainsets will host passengers in late 2012
The new trainsets must go through testing before they can join the pool of the other trains (also Talgo trains) running the Amtrak Cascades route. Staff at the Oregon Department of Transportation Rail Division expects Oregon’s new Talgo trains will be available for revenue service by the fall of 2012.
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A Talgo train being prepped for delivery
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Buying trains gives Oregon options
The five trainsets now operating in the Cascades corridor are stretched to their limit covering existing service commitments, and any planned expansion would not be possible without additional trains. In fact, ridership continues to set records, and recent open houses held around the state show Oregonians favor a strong passenger rail program.
One specific expansion coming up in the Northwest, required by the funding awarded and scheduled for completion in 2017, requires Washington to add two additional roundtrips between Portland and Seattle. Because Washington DOT owns three of the current five trains and Amtrak owns the other two, that expansion could have meant a disruption in or elimination of service between Portland and Eugene.
To ensure equipment is available for Portland-Eugene service, Oregon opted to purchase trains that can be used cooperatively with the current fleet everywhere in the corridor. By owning trains, too, Oregon will have a stronger role as a partner in the Cascades corridor. The two new Talgo trains join the five other Talgo trains in helping preserve options for Oregonians.
Talgo trains offer safety, seating, compatibility
Oregon’s Talgo trains consist of 13 segments and provide seating for up to 275 passengers. They are semi-permanently attached, or articulated, and share wheel sets at the point where they are joined. The make up (or “consist” in railroad terms) of a Talgo train cannot be lengthened or shortened in response to demands for service. The “trainset” terminology comes from the fixed nature: a train of semi-permanently coupled segments that operates from one terminal to another as a single unit. Just like an airplane, the seating capacity is fixed.
The Talgo trains have a lower center of gravity and a unique suspension system that allow them to take curves faster than conventional trains. They are also built to meet the safety specifications set by the Federal Railroad Administration. Oregon purchased Talgo trains for these reasons as well as because the state needed to buy the same type equipment that was already in use in the corridor; this way, the new trains can be used in rotation with the existing trainsets providing Cascades service.
Trainset costs and operation
The Oregon Department of Transportation purchased the trains using federal ARRA funds that the Oregon Transportation Commission redirected to rail based on bids coming in lower than projected on highway projects. The original purchase agreement with Talgo was for $36.6 million; ODOT has approved an additional $441,276 in change orders to date. Partners in operating the train include Washington DOT and Amtrak.
Amtrak will furnish motive power, just as it does today. Because no new schedules are expected to be added until 2017, the existing locomotive roster should continue to be adequate.
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