Amtrak unveils "Airo" its fleet to replace
1) In 2026: The Cascades (currently Talgo trainsets) starting in 2026 and
2) In 2027 The Amfleets that are most of the "not Acela" fleet on the
Northeast Corridor and any service touching NYC
One "F-Line" question: will the NEC really see the "no separate engine" / "passengers in lead car" setup shown here:
(this was such a FRA safety no-no that the Acela II / Avelias had to have a separate
engine at both ends despite getting the FRA to adopt global standards versus the earlier Acela I's "bank vault" heavy design)
Hopefully the page at
https://media.amtrak.com/2022/12/amtrak-airo-renderings/ will come back (it is 404, but the
Google Cache is Here;
images here Amtrak President Roger Harris:
“Amtrak Airo will debut in 2026 on our Cascades service and eventually operate on routes throughout the country,
including on all of our Northeast Regional trains and other trains that operate in and out of New York City.”
The Metroliner* (1969) Amfleet I (1973)and Amfleet II (1980) are probably one of the most successful government vehicle procurements since the Jeep or the B-52. Anyone from Charleston SC to Vermont or Maine who pictures a non-Acela passenger train is picturing the tubular corrugated stainless steel design by the Budd company from the mid-1960s
*The
Budd Metroliner was created by the DOT working with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the tooling was reused for Amfleet I and Amfleet II