Amtrak is finally upgrading its fleet. Here’s what trains could one day look like if service returns to Lehigh Valley
If passenger rail service ever returns to the Lehigh Valley, residents will be riding in style on the way to New York City.
Amtrak will reportedly spend $7.3 billion as part of a massive effort to overhaul its rail service, and has tapped a German company to replace an aging fleet with a new generation of trains, it was announced Wednesday. The new trains will feature roomier seats, wider aisles, individual power outlets, USB ports, onboard Wi-Fi, improved lighting and panoramic windows.
Siemens Mobility has been awarded a contract worth $3.4 billion to build up to 73 train sets at its rail factory in Sacramento, California, according to a press release. The new trains would phase out an Amtrak fleet that dates back more than 40 years.
The new trains are expected to be in service across the Northeast Corridor and across various other state-supported routes, the release said. Amtrak believes the upgrades will add over 1.5 million riders annually.
“These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our aging 40-to-50-year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment,” Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in the release. “This investment is essential to preserving Northeast Regional and state-supported services for the future and will allow our customers to travel comfortably and safely, while reducing carbon emissions.”
There’s an outside shot the new trains could one day move through the Lehigh Valley.
In late June, Norfolk Southern, the freight company that controls railroad tracks throughout the region, reportedly signaled a willingness to engage in negotiations with Amtrak as it looks to reconnect Allentown to Manhattan. It’s the first time in years Norfolk Southern has even considered a proposal.
If the two sides could hammer out a deal, it would be a massive step toward restoring train service in the Lehigh Valley. In April, Amtrak revealed it wanted to reconnect the two cities by 2035, and a May report showed Amtrak not only plans to offer two daily round trips between the cities, but a proposed Lehigh Valley route might also include stops in Bethlehem and Easton on the way to New York City.
The entire premise of Amtrak’s vision or any thought of passenger rail returning to the Lehigh Valley still hinges on the bipartisan infrastructure framework recently crafted by senators and the White House. The 58-member Problem Solvers Caucus — which includes Democrat and Republican House members — said in a statement Tuesday it “strongly supports” the infrastructure proposal, but called for “an expeditious, stand-alone vote” rather than seeing it tied to a separate Democratic proposal to invest in childcare and education and fight climate change.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated she will not take up either the infrastructure bill or the Democrats’ additional proposal until the Senate passes both of them. Tying the two bills together could derail the infrastructure package.
Amtrak said it hopes to have its first Siemens Venture cars in operation in 2024. The entire fleet would be replaced by 2030.
Other features on the new trains will include a more contemporary food service experience, state-of-the-art customer trip information, a digital seat reservation system and navigation display systems, the release said. The trains were also designed with enhanced HVAC, touchless restroom controls, automated steps, and would meet Amtrak’s new standard of enhanced accessible features for customers who have vision or hearing impairments or reduced mobility.
