Amtrak’s new Cities Sprinter locomotives are ‘being put through their paces’ at a test facility in Colorado.
The first two locomotives of a 70-vehicle order are undergoing a series of trial runs at the U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) Transportation Technology Center (TTC) facility in Pueblo.
The new locomotives, which were unveiled in May, will begin service on the Northeast corridor between Washington, New York and Boston this autumn, eventually replacing all existing long-distance locomotives on the route.
Amtrak President and chief executive Joe Boardman, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo and Siemens Rail Systems president Michael Cahill have visited the test centre to see the locomotives in action.
“These locomotives are the new workhorses of the Amtrak fleet in the Northeast and they must meet our performance-based specifications and reliability needs so we can keep the region’s people and economy moving,” said Boardman.
Four locomotives will complete a series of tests before commissioning later this year.
Two units are carrying out trial runs designed to test maximum speed, acceleration and braking.
Another locomotive will be taken to the Northeast and Keystone Corridor to perform field tests on the actual route, while a final unit is tested in a climate-control chamber.
