Amtrak just began their new Borealis route about three months ago, and now that Mobile has approved funding, a Gulf Coast service appears to be in the works.
Keep an eye on the Corridor ID Program as well as the Long Distance restoration program. Nothing will be added overnight. It's a long, laborious process, but progress to extend Amtrak service in many places across the country is underway.
@@MisterUptempo Gotta keep an eye on state supported expansion plans too! The Commonwealth Corridor is not on the Corridor ID map but is still very much in the works. However, it will also be years before service ever starts on the corridor since it utilizes a mostly single-tracked subdivision for part of the route.
@@MisterUptempo I may be looking at an outdated map; however, while approved as an official corridor, it has not been displayed unless an updated visual has been released. Well, the full route at least.
Yep. Amtrak, keep the Siemens rolling in. I guess Amtrak thinks Siemens products are better and more reliable. I will miss the Amfleets once they’re gone as well as the Metroliner cab cars. I guess buying Siemens products is how Amtrak plans to upgrade its fleet over the next seven years. By mid-2030, if not all, but mostly, Amtrak will have Siemens-built equipment including push-pull rail coaches and diesel and electric passenger locomotives.
Amtrak can’t keep rebuilding old equipment. It’s time for the Amfleet 1s to go, though they will be missed. If they want to move forward then they’ll have to keep going with Siemens.
I agree 100% with you, those coaches are from 1975 and that’s nearly 50 years old. They’ve been rebuilt multiple times, but now are really starting to show their age with reliability problems 85 percent of which is due to their age and maintenance costs are increasing and there’s an increase in the fleet being obsolete meaning there is a 70% increase of Amtrak experiencing a shortage of rail cars. The oldest rolling stock Amtrak has is the Metroliners and they are even older than Amtrak, unbelievable. I guess non-long-distance service equipment gets beaten up quicker than long distance equipment because those are carrying millions of passengers per year and the heavy use of work running up and down the NEC for 49 years is making them all worn out and ready for retirement.
@@ericschwartz3559 It's not that that they're becoming unusable; however, they have certainly run longer than they need to, and going to Siemens for the Venture/Airo rolling stock is a step towards renewal and modernization for Amtrak. Next, they will have to take on various infrastructure projects and improvements to further enhance services. Also, long distance equipment is not safe from wear and tear either. In fact, the Southwest Chief has been reported cancelled a couple of times recently due to an equipment shortage. Hopefully Amtrak has selected a bidder for the long-distance RFP so that we can finally get new rolling stock underway for the long-distance routes. And yes, I do agree with you that it's crazy that the Metroliners have served and survived for so long. I wonder what is taking the HHP8-Cs so long to replace them on the Keystone.
I heard the hhp-8 cab car conversions are taking a lot longer to replace the metroliners on the keystone because they want them to hold the fort while they wait for all of the new siemens equipment to be delivered fully by around 2031 or so to enable retirement of all the amfleet 1s and metroliners, that’s what I heard from someone else. Plus, they only have a few hhp-8 conversions running. New venture train sets that are like the ones being delivered for midwest service on northern and southern california routes, but has an sc-44 style cab at each end, is planning to replace most of the acs-64 electric locomotives.
@@ericschwartz3559 The Venture trainsets you are referring to are the Airo sets, which actually have an ALC-42 style cab car on one side and an ALC-42E locomotive on the other. As for the HHP8-C, they want to use them to phase out the Metroliners *before and while* these Airo sets slowly arrive. The HHP8-C is a short-term solution to phasing out the super old Metroliner cab cars until the Airo sets finally take over. Once they are fully in service, the train sets will phase out the Amfleets and HHP8-C cab cars.
Bachmann is almost certainly working on it, but I never buy their passenger cars as they're currently asking more than Walthers Proto and Rapido do for a less detailed car that doesn't have operating diaphragms.
That’s my bad - I’ll try to adjust it. These clips will also appear in my video of the full rush hour from this day and I’ll make sure to show better angles of some of that Metra action
I like it tbh and it allows the Midwest system to stand out similarly to Cascades. Just wish the paint lined up with the locomotives but hey the SC-44s were originally meant to pull bi-levels. I can't complain much honestly.
The Venture cars that were purchased by IDOT and CalTrans are as off-the-shelf as "off-the-shelf" can get. You can expect more out of the Venture cars that will be part of the Airo train sets that will eventually takeover other intercity routes, as Amtrak has put more customization into that line of Venture cars, as seen in the renderings.
@@MrMarshmallow26 but the seats are still terrible compared to the existing coach seats on the Superliners. Less pitch, less cushion, bad for long routes
@@hikertrashfilms I've heard mixed responses with the seats, but I'm not defending IDOT and CalTrans as I understand there's less cushioning. I'm just saying to expect more from Airo than the state-bought Venture cars.
I am glad those Siemens Venture Cafe cars are finally arriving.
Good video. Thank you for posting it.
Thank you! It’s my pleasure
@@rail_spike_productionsHow many Venture Cafe Cars are there?
those k5hl horns sounds great jeez
Great Video of New Amtrak Cars!
Thanks !
@@rail_spike_productions You’re Welcome!
Great catches and awesome video
Thank you !
Great coverage
Thank you
It’s great to see more of these rolling into the Midwest system. It seems a little cramped over by the register but hopefully that isn’t a big issue…
Pretty cars, all wheels on the rails and rolling.
Cant wail til Bachmann does these in HO Scale. I got 3 of the coaches already.
I hope Amtrak service extends eventually
Amtrak just began their new Borealis route about three months ago, and now that Mobile has approved funding, a Gulf Coast service appears to be in the works.
Keep an eye on the Corridor ID Program as well as the Long Distance restoration program. Nothing will be added overnight. It's a long, laborious process, but progress to extend Amtrak service in many places across the country is underway.
@@MisterUptempo Gotta keep an eye on state supported expansion plans too! The Commonwealth Corridor is not on the Corridor ID map but is still very much in the works. However, it will also be years before service ever starts on the corridor since it utilizes a mostly single-tracked subdivision for part of the route.
@@MrMarshmallow26 Commonwealth Corridor is a very important addition, but, to be clear, is included in the Corridor ID Program.
@@MisterUptempo I may be looking at an outdated map; however, while approved as an official corridor, it has not been displayed unless an updated visual has been released. Well, the full route at least.
i have a HO Scale of the Amtrak Midwest passenger cars, they are beautiful
Excellent video my friends awesome like and Greeting 🙋🏻♀️
Yep. Amtrak, keep the Siemens rolling in. I guess Amtrak thinks Siemens products are better and more reliable. I will miss the Amfleets once they’re gone as well as the Metroliner cab cars. I guess buying Siemens products is how Amtrak plans to upgrade its fleet over the next seven years. By mid-2030, if not all, but mostly, Amtrak will have Siemens-built equipment including push-pull rail coaches and diesel and electric passenger locomotives.
Amtrak can’t keep rebuilding old equipment. It’s time for the Amfleet 1s to go, though they will be missed. If they want to move forward then they’ll have to keep going with Siemens.
I agree 100% with you, those coaches are from 1975 and that’s nearly 50 years old. They’ve been rebuilt multiple times, but now are really starting to show their age with reliability problems 85 percent of which is due to their age and maintenance costs are increasing and there’s an increase in the fleet being obsolete meaning there is a 70% increase of Amtrak experiencing a shortage of rail cars. The oldest rolling stock Amtrak has is the Metroliners and they are even older than Amtrak, unbelievable. I guess non-long-distance service equipment gets beaten up quicker than long distance equipment because those are carrying millions of passengers per year and the heavy use of work running up and down the NEC for 49 years is making them all worn out and ready for retirement.
@@ericschwartz3559 It's not that that they're becoming unusable; however, they have certainly run longer than they need to, and going to Siemens for the Venture/Airo rolling stock is a step towards renewal and modernization for Amtrak. Next, they will have to take on various infrastructure projects and improvements to further enhance services. Also, long distance equipment is not safe from wear and tear either. In fact, the Southwest Chief has been reported cancelled a couple of times recently due to an equipment shortage. Hopefully Amtrak has selected a bidder for the long-distance RFP so that we can finally get new rolling stock underway for the long-distance routes. And yes, I do agree with you that it's crazy that the Metroliners have served and survived for so long. I wonder what is taking the HHP8-Cs so long to replace them on the Keystone.
I heard the hhp-8 cab car conversions are taking a lot longer to replace the metroliners on the keystone because they want them to hold the fort while they wait for all of the new siemens equipment to be delivered fully by around 2031 or so to enable retirement of all the amfleet 1s and metroliners, that’s what I heard from someone else. Plus, they only have a few hhp-8 conversions running. New venture train sets that are like the ones being delivered for midwest service on northern and southern california routes, but has an sc-44 style cab at each end, is planning to replace most of the acs-64 electric locomotives.
@@ericschwartz3559 The Venture trainsets you are referring to are the Airo sets, which actually have an ALC-42 style cab car on one side and an ALC-42E locomotive on the other. As for the HHP8-C, they want to use them to phase out the Metroliners *before and while* these Airo sets slowly arrive. The HHP8-C is a short-term solution to phasing out the super old Metroliner cab cars until the Airo sets finally take over. Once they are fully in service, the train sets will phase out the Amfleets and HHP8-C cab cars.
Just think when these cars come out in HO Scale
Bachmann is almost certainly working on it, but I never buy their passenger cars as they're currently asking more than Walthers Proto and Rapido do for a less detailed car that doesn't have operating diaphragms.
i have them in HO Scale, just not the dining car.
Unfortunately, the thumbnails of recommended next videos to watch covered up the Metra action in the background at the end.
That’s my bad - I’ll try to adjust it. These clips will also appear in my video of the full rush hour from this day and I’ll make sure to show better angles of some of that Metra action
Would love to see the interior.
I would as well, but I’ll need to wait quite some time as I live in the northeast
Ooooo
Not really feeling the polka dot livery scheme.
I like it tbh and it allows the Midwest system to stand out similarly to Cascades. Just wish the paint lined up with the locomotives but hey the SC-44s were originally meant to pull bi-levels. I can't complain much honestly.
Worst seats ever. I hate these new Siemans.
yeah, there not very comfortable
The Venture cars that were purchased by IDOT and CalTrans are as off-the-shelf as "off-the-shelf" can get. You can expect more out of the Venture cars that will be part of the Airo train sets that will eventually takeover other intercity routes, as Amtrak has put more customization into that line of Venture cars, as seen in the renderings.
@@MrMarshmallow26 but the seats are still terrible compared to the existing coach seats on the Superliners. Less pitch, less cushion, bad for long routes
@@hikertrashfilms I've heard mixed responses with the seats, but I'm not defending IDOT and CalTrans as I understand there's less cushioning. I'm just saying to expect more from Airo than the state-bought Venture cars.
Nor greT, nut still ok