Bombardier disappointed as Amtrak drops plans

Bombardier is looking at a new order opportunity despite being disappointed that Amtrak won’t purchase its Acela rail cars for the Northeastern U.S. corridor as the passenger rail operator instead advances plans to acquire faster, modern high-speed trains.

Amtrak said it will formally start the process early next year to eventually replace the existing 20 Acela Express trains plus add additional trains to meet its forecasts of increased ridership in the years to come.

It had originally considered purchasing 40 Acela passenger cars, two of which would be added to the six cars that operate on each of its 20 trains.

But chief executive Joe Boardman told a congressional committee in Washington on Thursday that such a move was “a stop-gap measure.”

“Moving directly to new high-speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher speeds, and maximize customer comfort all while improving equipment reliability and reducing operating costs,” he stated in a news release.

Besides posing technical challenges, adding new cars was determined to be not cost effective and insufficient to handle new ridership growth projections, add required frequency upgrades and meet the many infrastructure challenges the network faces, Boardman said.

Delivery of the new trains is expected to begin in five to seven years, but Amtrak said it expects the Acela trains will continue to operate into the 2020s.

“We’re getting some additional train sets and when they start coming on line they will be operating side by side with our existing 20,” said spokesman Steve Kulm.

Bombardier and Alstom partnered in 1996 on a US$1.2 billion contract to supply the original Acela trains. Bombardier said it submitted a proposal to manufacture the additional passenger cars at its Plattsburgh, N.Y., facility.

Spokeswoman Maryanne Roberts said Bombardier isn’t totally surprised by the decision because it was one of several options being considered.

“They were always going to order the next generation of high speed trains too and they were looking at an in-between measure so we’re disappointed that they’re not going to go forward with that but we stand ready to help them with their future procurements,” she said in an interview.

“We weren’t counting our chickens before they were hatched.”

Roberts said the world’s largest railway manufacturer offers a range of train speeds, including the Zefiro that would have to be modified to meet U.S. safety standards.