Amtrak this week unveiled its new Airo trains built by Siemens Mobility in its Sacramento train factory.
The new train sets, 83 of them ordered so far, will debut on some Amtrak lines on the East Coast and Pacific Northwest starting in 2026.
“Amtrak is an integral part of the fabric of our nation and Amtrak Airo will represent a new level of passenger experience for travelers throughout America,” said Michael Cahill, president of Rolling Stock for Siemens Mobility North America, in a news release.
Amtrak originally commissioned 73 train sets from Siemens in 2021. In the summer this year, Amtrak increased that order to 83 trains. These trains are in addition to 125 Charger locomotives Siemens is building as replacements for older engines for Amtrak routes.
The new Airo trains are more fuel efficient and produce 90% less particulate emissions when in diesel operation. They are also faster than the current trains, operating up to 125 miles per hour, compared to 90 miles per hour or less for the trains they replace.
The new trains can also operate with shorter downtime on lines where they switch between electrified and non-electrified corridors, as they use an efficient diesel engine to drive the electric motor when not on an electrified corridor.
The train sets, which include locomotives and cars, are built from the ground up in Sacramento, where sheet metal and steel is fabricated into wheel sets, frames coaches and other parts.
The trains are certified to meet Federal Railroad Administration Buy America Standards for domestically sourced materials and components. Amtrak said parts are sourced from 100 suppliers in 31 states. Some 16 suppliers in California provide more than 2,000 individual parts.
The Siemens factory is the region's second-largest manufacturer, with about 2,500 employees, according to the Sacramento Business Journal's most recent list of local manufacturers. The Sacramento plant builds equipment for private and public rail companies all over the U.S. and Canada. That currently includes new low-floor light rail cars for the Sacramento Regional Transit District.
In March this year, Siemens announced it would invest $220 million in North Carolina to build another train factory to supply trains to the East Coast.
Siemens' Sacramento train factory has delivered more than 3,000 locomotives, passenger coaches and light rail vehicles since it opened in 1992.
The French Road factory is more than 1 million square feet and has a testing track on site.
